---
title: export
slug: Web/JavaScript/Reference/Statements/export
page-type: javascript-statement
browser-compat: javascript.statements.export
sidebar: jssidebar
---

The **`export`** declaration is used to export values from a JavaScript module. Exported values can then be imported into other programs with the {{jsxref("Statements/import", "import")}} declaration or [dynamic import](/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Operators/import). The value of an imported binding is subject to change in the module that exports it — when a module updates the value of a binding that it exports, the update will be visible in its imported value.

In order to use the `export` declaration in a source file, the file must be interpreted by the runtime as a [module](/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Guide/Modules). In HTML, this is done by adding `type="module"` to the {{HTMLElement("script")}} tag, or by being imported by another module. Modules are automatically interpreted in [strict mode](/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Strict_mode).

## Syntax

```js-nolint
// Exporting declarations
export let name1, name2/*, … */; // also var
export const name1 = 1, name2 = 2/*, … */; // also var, let
export function functionName() { /* … */ }
export class ClassName { /* … */ }
export function* generatorFunctionName() { /* … */ }
export const { name1, name2: bar } = o;
export const [ name1, name2 ] = array;

// Export list
export { name1, /* …, */ nameN };
export { variable1 as name1, variable2 as name2, /* …, */ nameN };
export { variable1 as "string name" };
export { name1 as default /*, … */ };

// Default exports
export default expression;
export default function functionName() { /* … */ }
export default class ClassName { /* … */ }
export default function* generatorFunctionName() { /* … */ }
export default function () { /* … */ }
export default class { /* … */ }
export default function* () { /* … */ }

// Aggregating modules
export * from "module-name";
export * as name1 from "module-name";
export { name1, /* …, */ nameN } from "module-name";
export { import1 as name1, import2 as name2, /* …, */ nameN } from "module-name";
export { default, /* …, */ } from "module-name";
export { default as name1 } from "module-name";
```

- `nameN`
  - : Identifier to be exported (so that it can be imported via {{jsxref("Statements/import", "import")}} in another script). If you use an alias with `as`, the actual exported name can be specified as a string literal, which may not be a valid identifier.

## Description

Every module can have two different types of export, _named export_ and _default export_. You can have multiple named exports per module but only one default export. Each type corresponds to one of the above syntax.

Named exports:

```js
// export features declared elsewhere
export { myFunction2, myVariable2 };

// export individual features (can export var, let,
// const, function, class)
export let myVariable = Math.sqrt(2);
export function myFunction() {
  // …
}
```

After the `export` keyword, you can use `let`, `const`, and `var` declarations, as well as function or class declarations. You can also use the `export { name1, name2 }` syntax to export a list of names declared elsewhere. Note that `export {}` does not export an empty object — it's a no-op declaration that exports nothing (an empty name list).

You cannot use `export` on a {{jsxref("Statements/using", "using")}} or {{jsxref("Statements/await_using", "await using")}} declaration. You can, however, export a variable that was declared elsewhere using `using` or `await using`. Doing so is still strongly discouraged, because the variable is disposed as soon as the module finishes executing, causing all importers to receive a value that's already disposed.

```js-nolint example-bad
export using resource1 = getResource(); // SyntaxError

// Allowed by syntax but discouraged
using resource2 = getResource();
export { resource2 };
```

Export declarations are not subject to [temporal dead zone](/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Statements/let#temporal_dead_zone_tdz) rules. You can declare that the module exports `X` before the name `X` itself is declared.

```js
export { x };
const x = 1;
// This works, because `export` is only a declaration, but doesn't
// utilize the value of `x`.
```

Default exports:

```js
// export feature declared elsewhere as default
export { myFunction as default };
// This is equivalent to:
export default myFunction;

// export individual features as default
export default function () { /* … */ }
export default class { /* … */ }
```

> [!NOTE]
> Names for export declarations must be distinct from each other. Having exports with duplicate names or using more than one `default` export will result in a {{jsxref("SyntaxError")}} and prevent the module from being evaluated.

The `export default` syntax allows any expression.

```js
export default 1 + 1;
```

As a special case, functions and classes are exported as _declarations_, not expressions, and these declarations can be anonymous. This means functions will be hoisted.

```js
// Works because `foo` is a function declaration,
// not a function expression
foo();

export default function foo() {
  console.log("Hi");
}

// It's still technically a declaration, but it's allowed
// to be anonymous
export default function () {
  console.log("Hi");
}
```

Named exports are useful when you need to export several values. When importing this module, named exports must be referred to by the exact same name (optionally renaming it with `as`), but the default export can be imported with any name. For example:

```js
// file test.js
const k = 12;
export default k;
```

```js
// some other file
import m from "./test"; // note that we have the freedom to use import m instead of import k, because k was default export

console.log(m); // 12
```

You can also rename named exports to avoid naming conflicts:

```js
export { myFunction as function1, myVariable as variable };
```

You can rename a name to something that's not a valid identifier by using a string literal. For example:

```js
export { myFunction as "my-function" };
```

### Re-exporting / Aggregating

A module can also "relay" values exported from other modules without the hassle of writing two separate import/export statements. This is often useful when creating a single module concentrating various exports from various modules (usually called a "barrel module").

This can be achieved with the "export from" syntax:

```js
export { default as function1, function2 } from "bar.js";
```

Which is comparable to a combination of import and export, except that `function1` and `function2` do not become available inside the current module:

```js
import { default as function1, function2 } from "bar.js";

export { function1, function2 };
```

Most of the "import from" syntaxes have "export from" counterparts.

```js
export { x } from "mod";
export { x as v } from "mod";
export * as ns from "mod";
```

There is also `export * from "mod"`, although there's no `import * from "mod"`. This re-exports all **named** exports from `mod` as the named exports of the current module, but the default export of `mod` is not re-exported. If there are two wildcard exports statements that implicitly re-export the same name, neither one is re-exported.

```js
// -- mod1.js --
export const a = 1;

// -- mod2.js --
export const a = 3;

// -- barrel.js --
export * from "./mod1.js";
export * from "./mod2.js";

// -- main.js --
import * as ns from "./barrel.js";

console.log(ns.a); // undefined
```

Attempting to import the duplicate name directly will throw an error.

```js
import { a } from "./barrel.js";
// SyntaxError: The requested module './barrel.js' contains conflicting star exports for name 'a'
```

The following is syntactically invalid despite its import equivalent:

```js-nolint example-bad
export DefaultExport from "bar.js"; // Invalid
```

The correct way of doing this is to rename the export:

```js
export { default as DefaultExport } from "bar.js";
```

The "export from" syntax allows the `as` token to be omitted, which makes the default export still re-exported as default export.

```js
export { default, function2 } from "bar.js";
```

`export from` supports all features that `import` supports — for example, [import attributes](/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Statements/import/with):

```js
export { default } from "./data.json" with { type: "json" };
```

## Examples

### Using named exports

In a module `my-module.js`, we could include the following code:

```js
// module "my-module.js"
function cube(x) {
  return x * x * x;
}

const foo = Math.PI + Math.SQRT2;

const graph = {
  options: {
    color: "white",
    thickness: "2px",
  },
  draw() {
    console.log("From graph draw function");
  },
};

export { cube, foo, graph };
```

Then in the top-level module included in your HTML page, we could have:

```js
import { cube, foo, graph } from "./my-module.js";

graph.options = {
  color: "blue",
  thickness: "3px",
};

graph.draw(); // Logs "From graph draw function"
console.log(cube(3)); // 27
console.log(foo); // 4.555806215962888
```

It is important to note the following:

- You need to include this script in your HTML with a {{HTMLElement("script")}} element of `type="module"`, so that it gets recognized as a module and dealt with appropriately.
- You can't run JS modules via a `file://` URL — you'll get [CORS](/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Guides/CORS) errors. You need to run it via an HTTP server.

### Using the default export

If we want to export a single value representing an entire module, we could use a default export:

```js
// module "cube.js"

export default function cube(x) {
  return x * x * x;
}
```

Then, in another script, it is straightforward to import the default export:

```js
import cube from "./cube.js";

console.log(cube(3)); // 27
```

### Using export from

Let's take an example where we have the following hierarchy:

- `childModule1.js`: exporting `myFunction` and `myVariable`
- `childModule2.js`: exporting `MyClass`
- `parentModule.js`: acting as an aggregator (and doing nothing else)
- top level module: consuming the exports of `parentModule.js`

This is what it would look like using code snippets:

```js
// In childModule1.js
function myFunction() {
  console.log("Hello!");
}
const myVariable = 1;
export { myFunction, myVariable };
```

```js
// In childModule2.js
class MyClass {
  constructor(x) {
    this.x = x;
  }
}

export { MyClass };
```

```js
// In parentModule.js
// Only aggregating the exports from childModule1 and childModule2
// to re-export them
export { myFunction, myVariable } from "childModule1.js";
export { MyClass } from "childModule2.js";
```

```js
// In top-level module
// We can consume the exports from a single module since parentModule
// "collected"/"bundled" them in a single source
import { myFunction, myVariable, MyClass } from "parentModule.js";
```

## Specifications

{{Specifications}}

## Browser compatibility

{{Compat}}

## See also

- {{jsxref("Statements/import", "import")}}
- [JavaScript modules](/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Guide/Modules) guide
- [ES6 in Depth: Modules](https://hacks.mozilla.org/2015/08/es6-in-depth-modules/) on hacks.mozilla.org (2015)
- [ES modules: A cartoon deep-dive](https://hacks.mozilla.org/2018/03/es-modules-a-cartoon-deep-dive/) on hacks.mozilla.org (2018)
- [Exploring JS, Ch.16: Modules](https://exploringjs.com/es6/ch_modules.html) by Dr. Axel Rauschmayer