Replace multiple characters in one replace call using JavaScript

Here, let's discus how to replace multiple different characters in a string using one replace call using JavaScript?
Submitted by Pratishtha Saxena, on July 24, 2022

First, let's understand what is JavaScript's replace() and how it is used?

JavaScript replace() Method

It is one of the methods in JavaScript which is used for replacing a particular character or multiple characters in a string with some other character.

Syntax:

string.replace(oldVal, newValue);

Here, this method is applied to the string whose characters are needed to be replaced. It takes two parameters which are the value/character that has to be replaced and the new character.

But this way only one character can be replaced in a single replace() method. For replacing multiple characters, one can use more replace() methods over and over again.

Syntax:

string.replace(oldVal, newVal).replace(oldVal, newVal), ...

Example 1:

// using multiple replace:
let String = 'Replace^Multiple$Characters Using_Replace$Method.';
newString = String.replace('_', ':').replace('^', ' ').replace('$', '+');
console.log('Original String: ', String);
console.log('New String: ', newString);

Output:

Example 1: Replace multiple characters in one replace call

This can be one way of replacing multiple characters using multiple replace() methods. But let's talk about doing this task by just using the single replace() method.

When only a single replace() method has to be used then regular expression comes into consideration. In place of the oldVal a regular expression is declared and in place of the newVal a new character is mentioned.

Example 2:

// using single replace:
let String = 'Replace^ Multiple$ Characters Using_ Replace$ Method.';
newString = String.replace(/\$|_|\^/gi, '');
console.log('Original String: ', String);
console.log('New String: ', newString);

Output:

Example 2: Replace multiple characters in one replace call