# How to add months to a date in JavaScript

By Atta Ur Rehman Shah (https://attacomsian.com/about). Published Sep 10, 2022. Topics: JavaScript.
Canonical URL: https://attacomsian.com/blog/javascript-date-add-months

> Learn how to use the getMonth() and setMonth() methods of the date object to add months to date in JavaScript.

To add months to date in JavaScript:

1. Use the `getMonth()` method to get a zero-based value for the months of the given date.
2. Use the `setMonth()` method by passing the result returned by `getMonth()` plus the number of months you want to add.
3. The `setMonth()` method sets the value on the given date.

Here is an example that adds 2 months to the current date in JavaScript:

```javascript
const date = new Date()
date.setMonth(date.getMonth() + 2)

console.log(date)
// Thu Nov 10 2022 23:02:54 GMT+0500 (Pakistan Standard Time)
```

The `getMonth()` method returns a number between `0` (January) and `11` (December), presenting the number of months of the given date.

The `setMonth()` method takes a zero-based integer representing the month of the year and sets the value on the date.

The above methods also take care of the situation where adding a specific number of months to date results in the next day, month, or year:

```javascript
const date = new Date('2022-09-10T23:33:45.900Z')
date.setMonth(date.getMonth() + 6)

console.log(date.toUTCString())
// Fri, 10 Mar 2023 23:33:45 GMT
```

If you frequently need to add months to date, create a reusable function that takes the number of months as a parameter and adds them to the current date, as shown below:

```javascript
Date.prototype.addMonths = function (months) {
  const date = new Date(this.valueOf())
  date.setMonth(date.getMonth() + months)
  return date
}

const date = new Date('2022-09-10T16:23:45.900Z')

// Add 3 months
const result = date.addMonths(3)

console.log(result.toUTCString())
// Sat, 10 Dec 2022 16:23:45 GMT
```

In the above example, we added a function called `addMonths()` to the `Date` object [prototype](https://attacomsian.com/blog/objects-prototypes-classes-javascript#prototypes). This function will be available to all instances of `Date` for adding months to date.