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javascript instance method

Date.prototype.setTime()

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The setTime() method of Date instances changes the timestamp for this date, which is the number of milliseconds since the epoch, defined as the midnight at the beginning of January 1, 1970, UTC.

Interactive exampleOpen the canonical MDN source to run this embedded demo.
const launchDate = new Date("July 1, 1999, 12:00:00");
const futureDate = new Date();
futureDate.setTime(launchDate.getTime());

console.log(futureDate);
// Expected output: "Thu Jul 01 1999 12:00:00 GMT+0200 (CEST)"

const fiveMinutesInMs = 5 * 60 * 1000;
futureDate.setTime(futureDate.getTime() + fiveMinutesInMs);

console.log(futureDate);
// Expected output: "Thu Jul 01 1999 12:05:00 GMT+0200 (CEST)"
// Note: your timezone may vary

Syntax

setTime(timeValue)

Parameters

  • timeValue
    • : An integer representing the new timestamp — the number of milliseconds since the midnight at the beginning of January 1, 1970, UTC.

Return value

Changes the Date object in place, and returns its new timestamp. If timeValue is NaN (or other values that get coerced to NaN, such as undefined), the date is set to Invalid Date and NaN is returned.

Examples

Using setTime()

const theBigDay = new Date("1999-07-01");
const sameAsBigDay = new Date();
sameAsBigDay.setTime(theBigDay.getTime());

Specifications

SpecificationsStandards references are available on the canonical MDN page.

Browser compatibility

Browser compatibilityCompatibility data is available on the canonical MDN page.

See also