Last Updated : 05 Aug, 2025
The global property in JavaScript regular expressions indicates whether the g (global) flag is enabled. A regular expression with the g flag searches for all matches in the input string rather than stopping after the first match.
JavaScript
// Regular expression without 'g' flag
let regex1 = /test/;
console.log(regex1.global);
// Regular expression with 'g' flag
let regex2 = /test/g;
console.log(regex2.global);
regex.globalKey Points
let s = "cat dog cat";
let regex = /cat/g;
let matches = s.match(regex);
console.log(matches);
The g flag ensures all occurrences of "cat" are captured.
2. Using exec() Iteratively JavaScript
let s = "hello hello world";
let regex = /hello/g;
let match;
while ((match = regex.exec(s)) !== null) {
console.log(`Matched: ${match[0]} at index ${match.index}`);
}
The g flag allows exec() to iterate over all matches in the string.
3. Replacing All Matches JavaScript
let s = "red apple, red cherry, red berry";
let regex = /red/g;
let result = s.replace(regex, "green");
console.log(result);
The g flag ensures all occurrences of "red" are replaced with "green."
4. Counting MatchesThe g flag helps count the total number of numeric sequences.
JavaScript
let s = "123 456 789";
let regex = /\d+/g;
let count = 0;
while (regex.exec(s)) {
count++;
}
console.log(`Number of matches: ${count}`);
5. Splitting a String by a Pattern JavaScript
let s = "apple;banana;cherry";
let regex = /;/g;
let parts = s.split(regex);
console.log(parts);
[ 'apple', 'banana', 'cherry' ]
The g flag ensures the pattern matches all separators in the string.
Why Use the global Property?The global property is a cornerstone of JavaScript regular expressions, enabling comprehensive pattern matching for a wide range of real-world applications.
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