# How to get the last character of a string in JavaScript

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

> Learn about multiple ways to get the last character of a string in JavaScript.

There are multiple ways to get the last character of a string in JavaScript. You can use the `charAt()`, `slice()`, `substring()`, `at()`, or bracket notation property access to get the last character in a string.

## Get the last character of a string using `charAt()` method

To get the last character of a string, you can call the `charAt()` method on the string, passing it the last character index as a parameter. 

This method returns a new string containing the character at the given index.

```javascript
const str = 'JavaScript'

const lastChar = str.charAt(str.length - 1)
console.log(lastChar) // t
```

The `charAt()` method returns the character of a string at the specified index. An empty string is returned if the given index does not exist:

```javascript
const str = 'JavaScript'

const lastChar = str.charAt(20)
console.log(lastChar) // ""
```

> Indexes are zero-based in JavaScript. The first character of a string has an index of `0`, and the last has an index of `str.length - 1`.

## Get the last character of a string using bracket notation

You can also use the bracket notation (`[]`) to get the last character of a string:

```javascript
const str = 'JavaScript'

const lastChar = str[str.length - 1]
console.log(lastChar) // t
```

Unlike the  `charAt()` method, the bracket notation returns `undefined` if the given index does not exist:

```javascript
const str = 'JavaScript'

const lastChar = str[20]
console.log(lastChar) // undefined
```

## Get the last character of a string using `substring()` method

To get the last character of the string, call the `substring()` on the string, and the last character index as a start index:

```javascript
const str = 'JavaScript'

const lastChar = str.substring(str.length - 1)
console.log(lastChar) // t
```

The `substring()` method extracts characters between the start and end indexes from a string and returns the substring.

## Get the last character of a string using `slice()` method

To get the last character of the string, call the `slice()` method on the string, passing `-1` as a negative start index:

```javascript
const str = 'JavaScript'

const lastChar = str.slice(-1)
console.log(lastChar) // t
```

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.

The `slice()` method also accepts a negative start index to slice the string from the end. You can even use this approach to get the last N characters of a string:

```javascript
const str = 'JavaScript'

const last2 = str.slice(-2)
console.log(last2) // pt

const last4 = str.slice(-4)
console.log(last4) // ript

const last6 = str.slice(-6)
console.log(last6) // Script
```

## Get the last character of a string using `at()` method

The `at()` method takes an integer as input and returns the character of a string at the specified index. To get the last character of the string, call the `at()` method on the string with a `-1` index:

```javascript
const str = 'JavaScript'

const lastChar = str.at(-1)
console.log(lastChar) // t
```

When negative integers are passed to `at()`, it counts back from the last string character.

The `at()` method returns `undefined` if the index does not exist:

```javascript
console.log(str.at(20))  // undefined
```

The `at()` method is a new addition to JavaScript and only works in modern browsers.