escape()
Deprecated
Avoid using this feature in new projects.
TC39 included the escape() and unescape() methods in Annex B of the ECMAScript specification, which covers JavaScript features with "one or more undesirable characteristics and in the absence of legacy usage would be removed."
This feature may be a candidate for removal from web standards or browsers.
Note:
escape() is a non-standard function implemented by browsers and was only standardized for cross-engine compatibility. It is not required to be implemented by all JavaScript engines and may not work everywhere. Use encodeURIComponent() or encodeURI() if possible.
The escape() function computes a new string in which certain characters have been replaced by hexadecimal escape sequences.
Syntax
escape(str)
Parameters
str-
A string to be encoded.
Return value
A new string in which certain characters have been escaped.
Description
escape() is a function property of the global object.
The escape() function replaces all characters with escape sequences, with the exception of ASCII word characters (A–Z, a–z, 0–9, _) and @\*_+-./. Characters are escaped by UTF-16 code units. If the code unit's value is less than 256, it is represented by a two-digit hexadecimal number in the format %XX, left-padded with 0 if necessary. Otherwise, it is represented by a four-digit hexadecimal number in the format %uXXXX, left-padded with 0 if necessary.
Note:
This function was used mostly for percent-encoding and is partly based on the escape format in RFC 1738. The escape format is not an escape sequence in string literals. You can replace %XX with \xXX and %uXXXX with \uXXXX to get a string containing actual string-literal escape sequences.
Examples
Using escape()
escape("abc123"); // "abc123"
escape("äöü"); // "%E4%F6%FC"
escape("ć"); // "%u0107"
// special characters
escape("@*_+-./"); // "@*_+-./"
Specifications
| Specification |
|---|
| ECMAScript® 2027 Language Specification # sec-escape-string |