string.lastIndexOf

The lastIndexOf() method returns the index within the calling String object of the last occurrence of the specified value, searching backwards from fromIndex. Returns -1 if the value is not found.

Syntax

str.lastIndexOf(searchValue[, fromIndex])

Parameters

searchValue

A string representing the value to search for. If searchValue is an empty string, then fromIndex is returned.

fromIndex Optional

The index at which to start searching backwards in the string. Starting with this index, the left part of the string will be searched. It can be any integer. The default value is +Infinity. If fromIndex >= str.length, the whole string is searched. If fromIndex < 0, the behavior will be the same as if it would be 0.

Return value

The index of the last occurrence of the specified value; -1 if not found.

Description

Characters in a string are indexed from left to right. The index of the first character is 0, and the index of the last character is str.length - 1.

'canal'.lastIndexOf('a');     // returns 3
'canal'.lastIndexOf('a', 2);  // returns 1
'canal'.lastIndexOf('a', 0);  // returns -1
'canal'.lastIndexOf('x');     // returns -1
'canal'.lastIndexOf('c', -5); // returns 0
'canal'.lastIndexOf('c', 0);  // returns 0
'canal'.lastIndexOf('');      // returns 5
'canal'.lastIndexOf('', 2);   // returns 2

Case-sensitivity

The lastIndexOf() method is case sensitive. For example, the following expression returns -1:

'Blue Whale, Killer Whale'.lastIndexOf('blue'); // returns -1

Examples

Using indexOf() and lastIndexOf()

The following example uses indexOf() and lastIndexOf() to locate values in the string "Brave new world".

var anyString = 'Brave new world';

console.log('The index of the first w from the beginning is ' + anyString.indexOf('w'));
// logs 8
console.log('The index of the first w from the end is ' + anyString.lastIndexOf('w')); 
// logs 10
console.log('The index of "new" from the beginning is ' + anyString.indexOf('new'));
// logs 6
console.log('The index of "new" from the end is ' + anyString.lastIndexOf('new'));
// logs 6

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
ECMAScript 1st Edition (ECMA-262)	Standard	Initial definition.
ECMAScript 5.1 (ECMA-262) The definition of 'String.prototype.lastIndexOf' in that specification.	Standard
ECMAScript 2015 (6th Edition, ECMA-262) The definition of 'String.prototype.lastIndexOf' in that specification.	Standard
ECMAScript 2017 Draft (ECMA-262) The definition of 'String.prototype.lastIndexOf' in that specification.	Draft

Browser compatibility

See also

• String.prototype.charAt()
• String.prototype.indexOf()
• String.prototype.split()
• Array.prototype.indexOf()
• Array.prototype.lastIndexOf()