# How to get the first N characters of a string in JavaScript

By Atta Ur Rehman Shah (https://attacomsian.com/about). Published Oct 23, 2022, updated Oct 25, 2022. Topics: JavaScript.
Canonical URL: https://attacomsian.com/blog/javascript-get-first-n-characters-of-string

> Learn how to use the slice() and substring() methods to get the first N characters of a string in JavaScript.

You can use the `slice()` method to get the first N characters of a string in JavaScript, passing `0` as the first parameter and `N` as the second parameter.

The `slice()` method takes the start and end indexes as parameters and returns a new string containing a slice of the original string.

```javascript
const str = 'JavaScript'

const first3 = str.slice(0, 3)
console.log(first3) // Jav

const first6 = str.slice(0, 6)
console.log(first6) // JavaSc

const first9 = str.slice(0, 9)
console.log(first9) // JavaScrip
```

The `slice()` method extracts a part of a string between the start and end indexes, specified as first and second parameters. It returns the extracted part as a new string and does not change the original string.

If you provide an end index greater than the string's length, the `slice()` method does not throw an error. Instead, it returns a copy of the original string:

```javascript
const str = 'JavaScript'

const first20 = str.slice(0, 20)
console.log(first20) // JavaScript
```

You could also use the `substring()` method to get the first N characters of a string in JavaScript:

```javascript
const str = 'JavaScript'

const first4 = str.substring(0, 4)
console.log(first4) // Java
```

The `substring()` method works similarly to `slice()` and returns a new string containing part of the original string specified using start and end indexes.