metadata
title: Date.prototype.setTime()
short-title: setTime()
slug: Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Date/setTime
page-type: javascript-instance-method
browser-compat: javascript.builtins.Date.setTime
sidebar: jsref
The setTime() method of {{jsxref("Date")}} instances changes the timestamp for this date, which is the number of milliseconds since the epoch, defined as the midnight at the beginning of January 1, 1970, UTC.
{{InteractiveExample("JavaScript Demo: Date.prototype.setTime()", "taller")}}
const launchDate = new Date("July 1, 1999, 12:00:00");
const futureDate = new Date();
futureDate.setTime(launchDate.getTime());
console.log(futureDate);
// Expected output: "Thu Jul 01 1999 12:00:00 GMT+0200 (CEST)"
const fiveMinutesInMs = 5 * 60 * 1000;
futureDate.setTime(futureDate.getTime() + fiveMinutesInMs);
console.log(futureDate);
// Expected output: "Thu Jul 01 1999 12:05:00 GMT+0200 (CEST)"
// Note: your timezone may vary
Syntax
setTime(timeValue)
Parameters
timeValue- : An integer representing the new timestamp — the number of milliseconds since the midnight at the beginning of January 1, 1970, UTC.
Return value
Changes the {{jsxref("Date")}} object in place, and returns its new timestamp. If timeValue is NaN (or other values that get coerced to NaN, such as undefined), the date is set to Invalid Date and NaN is returned.
Examples
Using setTime()
const theBigDay = new Date("1999-07-01");
const sameAsBigDay = new Date();
sameAsBigDay.setTime(theBigDay.getTime());
Specifications
{{Specifications}}
Browser compatibility
{{Compat}}
See also
- {{jsxref("Date.prototype.getTime()")}}
- {{jsxref("Date.prototype.setUTCHours()")}}