symbol.toString

The toString() method returns a string representing the specified Symbol object.

Syntax

Symbol().toString();

Return value

A string representing the specified Symbol object.

Description

The Symbol object overrides the toString method of the Object object; it does not inherit Object.prototype.toString(). For Symbol objects, the toString method returns a string representation of the object.

No string concatenation

While you can call toString() on Symbols, you can't use string concatenation with them:

Symbol('foo') + 'bar';       // TypeError: Can't convert symbol to string

Examples

Symbol('desc').toString();   // "Symbol(desc)"

// well-known symbols
Symbol.iterator.toString();  // "Symbol(Symbol.iterator)

// global symbols
Symbol.for('foo').toString() // "Symbol(foo)"

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
ECMAScript 2015 (6th Edition, ECMA-262) The definition of 'Symbol.prototype.toString' in that specification.	Standard	Initial definition.
ECMAScript 2017 Draft (ECMA-262) The definition of 'Symbol.prototype.toString' in that specification.	Draft

Browser compatibility

See also

• Object.prototype.toString()