How do I check if an object has a specific property in JavaScript?

Question

Consider:

x = {'key': 1};
if ( x.hasOwnProperty('key') ) {
    //Do this
}

Is that the best way to do it?

John_Resig_6524 · Answer

2022 UPDATE

`Object.hasOwn()`

Object.hasOwn() is recommended over Object.hasOwnProperty() because it works for objects created using Object.create(null) and with objects that have overridden the inherited hasOwnProperty() method. While it is possible to workaround these problems by calling Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty() on an external object, Object.hasOwn() is more intuitive.

Example

const object1 = {
  prop: 'exists'
};

console.log(Object.hasOwn(object1, 'prop'));
// expected output: true

Original answer

I'm really confused by the answers that have been given - most of them are just outright incorrect. Of course you can have object properties that have undefined, null, or false values. So simply reducing the property check to typeof this[property] or, even worse, x.key will give you completely misleading results.

It depends on what you're looking for. If you want to know if an object physically contains a property (and it is not coming from somewhere up on the prototype chain) then object.hasOwnProperty is the way to go. All modern browsers support it. (It was missing in older versions of Safari - 2.0.1 and older - but those versions of the browser are rarely used any more.)

If what you're looking for is if an object has a property on it that is iterable (when you iterate over the properties of the object, it will appear) then doing: prop in object will give you your desired effect.

Since using hasOwnProperty is probably what you want, and considering that you may want a fallback method, I present to you the following solution:

var obj = {
    a: undefined,
    b: null,
    c: false
};

// a, b, c all found
for ( var prop in obj ) {
    document.writeln( "Object1: " + prop );
}

function Class(){
    this.a = undefined;
    this.b = null;
    this.c = false;
}

Class.prototype = {
    a: undefined,
    b: true,
    c: true,
    d: true,
    e: true
};

var obj2 = new Class();

// a, b, c, d, e found
for ( var prop in obj2 ) {
    document.writeln( "Object2: " + prop );
}

function hasOwnProperty(obj, prop) {
    var proto = obj.__proto__ || obj.constructor.prototype;
    return (prop in obj) &&
        (!(prop in proto) || proto[prop] !== obj[prop]);
}

if ( Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty ) {
    var hasOwnProperty = function(obj, prop) {
        return obj.hasOwnProperty(prop);
    }
}

// a, b, c found in modern browsers
// b, c found in Safari 2.0.1 and older
for ( var prop in obj2 ) {
    if ( hasOwnProperty(obj2, prop) ) {
        document.writeln( "Object2 w/ hasOwn: " + prop );
    }
}

The above is a working, cross-browser, solution to hasOwnProperty(), with one caveat: It is unable to distinguish between cases where an identical property is on the prototype and on the instance - it just assumes that it's coming from the prototype. You could shift it to be more lenient or strict, based upon your situation, but at the very least this should be more helpful.

user_1968 · Answer

Note: the following is nowadays largely obsolete thanks to strict mode, and hasOwnProperty. The correct solution is to use strict mode and to check for the presence of a property using obj.hasOwnProperty. This answer predates both these things, at least as widely implemented (yes, it is that old). Take the following as a historical note.

Bear in mind that undefined is (unfortunately) not a reserved word in JavaScript if you’re not using strict mode. Therefore, someone (someone else, obviously) could have the grand idea of redefining it, breaking your code.

A more robust method is therefore the following:

if (typeof(x.attribute) !== 'undefined')

On the flip side, this method is much more verbose and also slower. :-/

A common alternative is to ensure that undefined is actually undefined, e.g. by putting the code into a function which accepts an additional parameter, called undefined, that isn’t passed a value. To ensure that it’s not passed a value, you could just call it yourself immediately, e.g.:

(function (undefined) {
    … your code …
    if (x.attribute !== undefined)
        … mode code …
})();

enobrev_14651 · Answer

if (x.key !== undefined)

Armin Ronacher seems to have already beat me to it, but:

Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty = function(property) {
    return this[property] !== undefined;
};

x = {'key': 1};

if (x.hasOwnProperty('key')) {
    alert('have key!');
}

if (!x.hasOwnProperty('bar')) {
    alert('no bar!');
}

A safer, but slower solution, as pointed out by Konrad Rudolph and Armin Ronacher would be:

Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty = function(property) {
    return typeof this[property] !== 'undefined';
};

user_17516 · Answer

Let's cut through some confusion here. First, let's simplify by assuming hasOwnProperty already exists; this is true of the vast majority of current browsers in use.

hasOwnProperty returns true if the attribute name that is passed to it has been added to the object. It is entirely independent of the actual value assigned to it which may be exactly undefined.

Hence:

var o = {}
o.x = undefined

var a = o.hasOwnProperty('x')  // a is true
var b = o.x === undefined // b is also true

However:

var o = {}

var a = o.hasOwnProperty('x')  // a is now false
var b = o.x === undefined // b is still true

The problem is what happens when an object in the prototype chain has an attribute with the value of undefined? hasOwnProperty will be false for it, and so will !== undefined. Yet, for..in will still list it in the enumeration.

The bottom line is there is no cross-browser way (since Internet Explorer doesn't expose __prototype__) to determine that a specific identifier has not been attached to an object or anything in its prototype chain.

Armin_Ronacher_19990 · Answer

Yes it is :) I think you can also do Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(x, 'key') which should also work if x has a property called hasOwnProperty :)

But that tests for own properties. If you want to check if it has an property that may also be inhered you can use typeof x.foo != 'undefined'.

Admin · Answer

if(x.hasOwnProperty("key")){
  // …
}

because

if(x.key){
  // …
}

fails if x.key is falsy (for example, x.key === "").

user_1697459 · Answer

You can also use the ES6 Reflect object:

x = {'key': 1};
Reflect.has( x, 'key'); // returns true

Documentation on MDN for Reflect.has can be found here.

The static Reflect.has() method works like the in operator as a function.

sheats_4915 · Answer

OK, it looks like I had the right answer unless if you don't want inherited properties:

if (x.hasOwnProperty('key'))

Here are some other options to include inherited properties:

if (x.key) // Quick and dirty, but it does the same thing as below.

if (x.key !== undefined)

user_11698819 · Answer

JavaScript is now evolving and growing as it now has good and even efficient ways to check it.

Here are some easy ways to check if object has a particular property:

Using hasOwnProperty()

const hero = {
  name: 'Batman'
};

hero.hasOwnProperty('name');     // => true
hero.hasOwnProperty('realName'); // => false

Using keyword/operator in

const hero = {
  name: 'Batman'
};

'name' in hero;     // => true
'realName' in hero; // => false

Comparing with undefined keyword

const hero = {
  name: 'Batman'
};

hero.name;     // => 'Batman'
hero.realName; // => undefined

// So consider this
hero.realName == undefined // => true (which means property does not exists in object)
hero.name == undefined // => false (which means that property exists in object)

For more information, check here.

user_10150695 · Answer

You can use the following approaches-

var obj = {a:1}
console.log('a' in obj)               // 1
console.log(obj.hasOwnProperty('a'))  // 2
console.log(Boolean(obj.a))         // 3

The difference between the following approaches are as follows-

In the first and third approach we are not just searching in object but its prototypal chain too. If the object does not have the property, but the property is present in its prototype chain it is going to give true.

var obj = {
    a: 2,
    __proto__ : {b: 2}
}

console.log('b' in obj)
console.log(Boolean(obj.b))

The second approach will check only for its own properties. Example -

var obj = {
    a: 2,
    __proto__ : {b: 2}
}

console.log(obj.hasOwnProperty('b'))

The difference between the first and the third is if there is a property which has value undefined the third approach is going to give false while first will give true.

var obj = {
    b : undefined
}

console.log(Boolean(obj.b))
console.log('b' in obj);

user_860099 · Answer

Performance

Today 2020.12.17 I perform tests on MacOs HighSierra 10.13.6 on Chrome v87, Safari v13.1.2 and Firefox v83 for chosen solutions.

Results

I compare only solutions A-F because they give valid result for all cased used in snippet in details section. For all browsers

solution based on in (A) is fast or fastest
solution (E) is fastest for chrome for big objects and fastest for firefox for small arrays if key not exists
solution (F) is fastest (~ >10x than other solutions) for small arrays
solutions (D,E) are quite fast
solution based on losash has (B) is slowest

Details

I perform 4 tests cases:

when object has 10 fields and searched key exists - you can run it HERE
when object has 10 fields and searched key not exists - you can run it HERE
when object has 10000 fields and searched key exists - you can run it HERE
when object has 10000 fields and searched key exists - you can run it HERE

Below snippet presents differences between solutions A B C D E F G H I J K

// SO https://stackoverflow.com/q/135448/860099


// src: https://stackoverflow.com/a/14664748/860099
function A(x) {
  return 'key' in x
}

// src: https://stackoverflow.com/a/11315692/860099
function B(x) {
  return _.has(x, 'key')
}

// src: https://stackoverflow.com/a/40266120/860099
function C(x) {
  return Reflect.has( x, 'key')
}

// src: https://stackoverflow.com/q/135448/860099
function D(x) {
  return x.hasOwnProperty('key')
}

// src: https://stackoverflow.com/a/11315692/860099
function E(x) {
  return Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(x, 'key')
}

// src: https://stackoverflow.com/a/136411/860099
function F(x) {
  function hasOwnProperty(obj, prop) {
      var proto = obj.__proto__ || obj.constructor.prototype;
      return (prop in obj) &&
          (!(prop in proto) || proto[prop] !== obj[prop]);
  }
  return hasOwnProperty(x,'key')
}

// src: https://stackoverflow.com/a/135568/860099
function G(x) {
  return typeof(x.key) !== 'undefined'
}

// src: https://stackoverflow.com/a/22740939/860099
function H(x) {
  return x.key !== undefined
}

// src: https://stackoverflow.com/a/38332171/860099
function I(x) {
  return !!x.key
}

// src: https://stackoverflow.com/a/41184688/860099
function J(x) {
  return !!x['key']
}

// src: https://stackoverflow.com/a/54196605/860099
function K(x) {
  return Boolean(x.key)
}


// --------------------
// TEST
// --------------------

let x1 = {'key': 1};
let x2 = {'key': "1"};
let x3 = {'key': true};
let x4 = {'key': []};
let x5 = {'key': {}};
let x6 = {'key': ()=>{}};
let x7 = {'key': ''};
let x8 = {'key': 0};
let x9 = {'key': false};
let x10= {'key': undefined};
let x11= {'nokey': 1};



let b= x=> x ? 1:0;

console.log('  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11');

[A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K ].map(f=> {  
  console.log(
    `${f.name} ${b(f(x1))} ${b(f(x2))} ${b(f(x3))} ${b(f(x4))} ${b(f(x5))} ${b(f(x6))} ${b(f(x7))} ${b(f(x8))} ${b(f(x9))} ${b(f(x10))}  ${b(f(x11))} `
  )})
  
console.log('
Legend: Columns (cases)');
console.log('1.  key = 1 ');
console.log('2.  key = "1" ');
console.log('3.  key = true ');
console.log('4.  key = [] ');
console.log('5.  key = {} ');
console.log('6.  key = ()=>{} ');
console.log('7.  key = "" ');
console.log('8.  key = 0 ');
console.log('9.  key = false ');
console.log('10. key = undefined ');
console.log('11. no-key ');


  
This shippet only presents functions used in performance tests - it not perform tests itself!

And here are example results for chrome

user_7592319 · Answer

Given myObject object and “myKey” as key name:

Object.keys(myObject).includes('myKey')

or

myObject.hasOwnProperty('myKey')

or

typeof myObject.myKey !== 'undefined'

The last was widely used, but (as pointed out in other answers and comments) it could also match on keys deriving from Object prototype.

user_8945943 · Answer

Now with ECMAScript22 we can use hasOwn instead of hasOwnProperty (Because this feature has pitfalls )

Object.hasOwn(obj, propKey)

user_4481226 · Answer

some easier and short options depending on the specific use case:

run the code snippet to see results:

let obj1 = {prop:undefined};
console.log(1,"prop" in obj1);
console.log(1,obj1?.prop);

let obj2 = undefined;
//console.log(2,"prop" in obj2); would throw because obj2 undefined
console.log(2,"prop" in (obj2 ?? {}))
console.log(2,obj2?.prop);

let obj3 = {prop:false};
console.log(3,"prop" in obj3);
console.log(3,!!obj3?.prop);

let obj4 = {prop:null};
let look = "prop"
console.log(4,"prop" in obj4);
console.log(4,obj4?.[look]);

let obj5 = {prop:true};
console.log(5,"prop" in obj5);
console.log(5,obj5?.prop === true);

let obj6 = {otherProp:true};
look = "otherProp"
console.log(6,"prop" in obj6);
console.log(6,obj6.look); //should have used bracket notation

let obj7 = {prop:""};
console.log(7,"prop" in obj7);
console.log(7,obj7?.prop || "empty");

I see very few instances where hasOwn is used properly, especially given its inheritance issues

user_4119501 · Answer

There is a method, "hasOwnProperty", that exists on an object, but it's not recommended to call this method directly, because it might be sometimes that the object is null or some property exist on the object like: { hasOwnProperty: false }

So a better way would be:

// Good
var obj = {"bar": "here bar desc"}
console.log(Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(obj, "bar"));

// Best
const has = Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty; // Cache the lookup once, in module scope.
console.log(has.call(obj, "bar"));

user_7765316 · Answer

Showing how to use this answer

const object= {key1: 'data', key2: 'data2'};

Object.keys(object).includes('key1') //returns true

We can use indexOf as well, I prefer includes

user_8725395 · Answer

The hasOwnProperty() method returns a boolean indicating whether the object has the specified property as its own property (as opposed to inheriting it).

const object1 = {};
object1.property1 = 42;

console.log(object1.hasOwnProperty('property1'));
// expected output: true

console.log(object1.hasOwnProperty('toString'));
// expected output: false

console.log(object1.hasOwnProperty('hasOwnProperty'));
// expected output: false

Know more

user_2732012 · Answer

Don't over-complicate things when you can do:

var isProperty =  (objectname.keyname || "") ? true : false;

It Is simple and clear for most cases...

user_741251 · Answer

A Better approach for iterating on object's own properties:

If you want to iterate on object's properties without using hasOwnProperty() check, use for(let key of Object.keys(stud)){} method:

for(let key of Object.keys(stud)){
  console.log(key); // will only log object's Own properties
}

full Example and comparison with for-in with hasOwnProperty()

function Student() {
  this.name = "nitin";
}

Student.prototype = {
  grade: 'A'
}

let stud = new Student();

// for-in approach
for(let key in stud){
  if(stud.hasOwnProperty(key)){
    console.log(key); // only outputs "name"
  }
} 

//Object.keys() approach
for(let key of Object.keys(stud)){
  console.log(key);
}

user_14099540 · Answer

x?.key returns 1 if x.key exists, otherwise undefined

How do I check if an object has a specific property in JavaScript?

31 Answers

2022 UPDATE

Object.hasOwn()

Example

Original answer

Performance

Results

Details

A Better approach for iterating on object's own properties:

`Object.hasOwn()`