JavaScript Date Set Methods

JavaScript provides several methods to set different components of a Date object. These methods allow you to modify the year, month, day, hour, minute, second, and millisecond of a date.

1. setFullYear()

Sets the year of the Date object.

let date = new Date();
date.setFullYear(2030);
console.log(date);  // Output: New date with the year set to 2030

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Syntax:

date.setFullYear(year, month, day);

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  • year: The year value to set.
  • month: Optional. The month (0-11) to set.
  • day: Optional. The day of the month (1-31) to set.

 

2. setMonth()

Sets the month (0-11) of the Date object.

date.setMonth(6);  // July (0-indexed)
console.log(date);  // Output: New date with the month set to July

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Syntax:

date.setMonth(month, day);

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  • month: The month value to set (0-11).
  • day: Optional. The day of the month to set.

 

3. setDate()

Sets the day of the month (1-31) for a Date object.

date.setDate(15);
console.log(date);  // Output: New date with the day set to 15

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Syntax:

date.setDate(day);

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  • day: The day of the month value to set (1-31).

4. setHours()

Sets the hours (0-23) for a Date object.

date.setHours(22);  // Sets time to 10 PM
console.log(date);  // Output: New date with the hours set to 22

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Syntax:

date.setHours(hours, minutes, seconds, milliseconds);

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  • hours: The hour value to set (0-23).
  • minutes: Optional. The minutes value to set (0-59).
  • seconds: Optional. The seconds value to set (0-59).
  • milliseconds: Optional. The milliseconds value to set (0-999).

 

5. setMinutes()

Sets the minutes (0-59) for a Date object.

date.setMinutes(45);
console.log(date);  // Output: New date with the minutes set to 45

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Syntax:

date.setMinutes(minutes, seconds, milliseconds);

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  • minutes: The minutes value to set (0-59).
  • seconds: Optional. The seconds value to set.
  • milliseconds: Optional. The milliseconds value to set.

 

6. setSeconds()

Sets the seconds (0-59) for a Date object.

date.setSeconds(30);
console.log(date);  // Output: New date with the seconds set to 30

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Syntax:

date.setSeconds(seconds, milliseconds);

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  • seconds: The seconds value to set (0-59).
  • milliseconds: Optional. The milliseconds value to set.

 

7. setMilliseconds()

Sets the milliseconds (0-999) for a Date object.

date.setMilliseconds(250);
console.log(date);  // Output: New date with the milliseconds set to 250

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Syntax:

date.setMilliseconds(milliseconds);

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  • milliseconds: The milliseconds value to set (0-999).

 

8. setTime()

Sets the Date object to the time represented by a number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970.

date.setTime(1609459200000);  // Sets the date to Jan 1, 2021
console.log(date);  // Output: New date corresponding to the set time

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Syntax:

date.setTime(milliseconds);

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  • milliseconds: The number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970.

 

9. setUTCFullYear()

Sets the full year of the Date object according to universal time.

date.setUTCFullYear(2025);
console.log(date);  // Output: New date with the UTC year set to 2025

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Syntax:

date.setUTCFullYear(year, month, day);

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  • year: The year value to set.
  • month: Optional. The month value to set (0-11).
  • day: Optional. The day of the month value to set (1-31).

10. setUTCMonth()

Sets the month (0-11) of the Date object according to universal time.

date.setUTCMonth(11);  // December (0-indexed)
console.log(date);  // Output: New date with the UTC month set to December

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Syntax:

date.setUTCMonth(month, day);

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  • month: The month value to set (0-11).
  • day: Optional. The day of the month value to set.

11. setUTCDate()

Sets the day of the month (1-31) for a Date object according to universal time.

date.setUTCDate(10);
console.log(date);  // Output: New date with the UTC day set to 10

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Syntax:

date.setUTCDate(day);

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  • day: The day of the month value to set (1-31).

 

12. setUTCHours()

Sets the hours (0-23) for a Date object according to universal time.

date.setUTCHours(15);  // Sets time to 3 PM UTC
console.log(date);  // Output: New date with the UTC hours set to 15

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Syntax:

date.setUTCHours(hours, minutes, seconds, milliseconds);

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  • hours: The hour value to set (0-23).
  • minutes: Optional. The minutes value to set.
  • seconds: Optional. The seconds value to set.
  • milliseconds: Optional. The milliseconds value to set.

 

13. setUTCMinutes()

Sets the minutes (0-59) for a Date object according to universal time.

date.setUTCMinutes(50);
console.log(date);  // Output: New date with the UTC minutes set to 50

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Syntax:

date.setUTCMinutes(minutes, seconds, milliseconds);

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  • minutes: The minutes value to set (0-59).
  • seconds: Optional. The seconds value to set.
  • milliseconds: Optional. The milliseconds value to set.

 

14. setUTCSeconds()

Sets the seconds (0-59) for a Date object according to universal time.

date.setUTCSeconds(45);
console.log(date);  // Output: New date with the UTC seconds set to 45

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Syntax:

date.setUTCSeconds(seconds, milliseconds);

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  • seconds: The seconds value to set (0-59).
  • milliseconds: Optional. The milliseconds value to set.

 

15. setUTCMilliseconds()

Sets the milliseconds (0-999) for a Date object according to universal time.

date.setUTCMilliseconds(123);
console.log(date);  // Output: New date with the UTC milliseconds set to 123

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Syntax:

date.setUTCMilliseconds(milliseconds);

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  • milliseconds: The milliseconds value to set (0-999).

 

Summary of JavaScript Date Set Methods

  • setFullYear(), setMonth(), setDate(): Set year, month, and day.
  • setHours(), setMinutes(), setSeconds(): Set time components.
  • setTime(): Set date using milliseconds since the Unix Epoch.
  • setUTC*() methods: Set date and time components in UTC.

These methods provide a powerful way to manipulate dates and times in JavaScript.