files/en-us/web/javascript/reference/global_objects/date/setyear/index.md

metadata

title: Date.prototype.setYear()
short-title: setYear()
slug: Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Date/setYear
page-type: javascript-instance-method
status:
  - deprecated
browser-compat: javascript.builtins.Date.setYear
sidebar: jsref

{{Deprecated_Header}}

The setYear() method of {{jsxref("Date")}} instances sets the year for a specified date according to local time.

However, the way the legacy setYear() method sets year values is different from how the preferred {{jsxref("Date/setFullYear", "setFullYear()")}} method sets year values — and in some cases, also different from how new Date() and {{jsxref("Date.parse()")}} set year values. Specifically, given two-digit numbers, such as 22 and 61:

• setYear() interprets any two-digit number as an offset to 1900; so date.setYear(22) results in the year value being set to 1922, and date.setYear(61) results in the year value being set to 1961. (In contrast, while new Date(61, 1) also results in the year value being set to 1961, new Date("2/1/22") results in the year value being set to 2022; and similarly for {{jsxref("Date.parse()")}}).

• {{jsxref("Date/setFullYear", "setFullYear()")}} does no special interpretation but instead uses the literal two-digit value as-is to set the year; so date.setFullYear(61) results in the year value being set to 0061, and date.setFullYear(22) results in the year value being set to 0022.

Because of those differences in behavior, you should no longer use the legacy setYear() method, but should instead use the preferred {{jsxref("Date/setFullYear", "setFullYear()")}} method.

Syntax

setYear(yearValue)

Parameters

• yearValue
  • : An integer.

Return value

Changes the {{jsxref("Date")}} object in place, and returns its new timestamp. If yearValue is NaN (or other values that get coerced to NaN, such as undefined), the date is set to Invalid Date and NaN is returned.

Description

If yearValue is a number between 0 and 99 (inclusive), then the year for dateObj is set to 1900 + yearValue. Otherwise, the year for dateObj is set to yearValue.

Examples

Using setYear()

The first two lines set the year to 1996. The third sets the year to 2000.

const theBigDay = new Date();

theBigDay.setYear(96);
theBigDay.setYear(1996);
theBigDay.setYear(2000);

Specifications

{{Specifications}}

Browser compatibility

{{Compat}}

See also

• Polyfill of Date.prototype.setYear in core-js
• {{jsxref("Date.prototype.getFullYear()")}}
• {{jsxref("Date.prototype.getUTCFullYear()")}}
• {{jsxref("Date.prototype.setFullYear()")}}
• {{jsxref("Date.prototype.setUTCFullYear()")}}