How do I check if an array includes a value in JavaScript?

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What is the most concise and efficient way to find out if a JavaScript array contains a value?

This is the only way I know to do it:

function contains(a, obj) {
    for (var i = 0; i < a.length; i++) {
        if (a[i] === obj) {
            return true;
        }
    }
    return false;
}

Is there a better and more concise way to accomplish this?

This is very closely related to Stack Overflow question Best way to find an item in a JavaScript Array? which addresses finding objects in an array using indexOf.

javascript-objects time-complexity arrays algorithm javascript
59 Answers

Update from 2019: This answer is from 2008 (11 years old!) and is not relevant for modern JS usage. The promised performance improvement was based on a benchmark done in browsers of that time. It might not be relevant to modern JS execution contexts. If you need an easy solution, look for other answers. If you need the best performance, benchmark for yourself in the relevant execution environments.

As others have said, the iteration through the array is probably the best way, but it has been proven that a decreasing while loop is the fastest way to iterate in JavaScript. So you may want to rewrite your code as follows:

function contains(a, obj) {
    var i = a.length;
    while (i--) {
       if (a[i] === obj) {
           return true;
       }
    }
    return false;
}

Of course, you may as well extend Array prototype:

Array.prototype.contains = function(obj) {
    var i = this.length;
    while (i--) {
        if (this[i] === obj) {
            return true;
        }
    }
    return false;
}

And now you can simply use the following:

alert([1, 2, 3].contains(2)); // => true
alert([1, 2, 3].contains('2')); // => false
Damir_4015100

indexOf maybe, but it's a "JavaScript extension to the ECMA-262 standard; as such it may not be present in other implementations of the standard."

Example:

[1, 2, 3].indexOf(1) => 0
["foo", "bar", "baz"].indexOf("bar") => 1
[1, 2, 3].indexOf(4) => -1

AFAICS Microsoft does not offer some kind of alternative to this, but you can add similar functionality to arrays in Internet Explorer (and other browsers that don't support indexOf) if you want to, as a quick Google search reveals (for example, this one).

user_47710

Let's say you've defined an array like so:

const array = [1, 2, 3, 4]

Below are three ways of checking whether there is a 3 in there. All of them return either true or false.

Native Array method (since ES2016) (compatibility table)

array.includes(3) // true

As custom Array method (pre ES2016)

// Prefixing the method with '_' to avoid name clashes
Object.defineProperty(Array.prototype, '_includes', { value: function (v) { return this.indexOf(v) !== -1 }})
array._includes(3) // true

Simple function

const includes = (a, v) => a.indexOf(v) !== -1
includes(array, 3) // true
user_11459320

Here's a JavaScript 1.6 compatible implementation of Array.indexOf:

if (!Array.indexOf) {
    Array.indexOf = [].indexOf ?
        function(arr, obj, from) {
            return arr.indexOf(obj, from);
        } :
        function(arr, obj, from) { // (for IE6)
            var l = arr.length,
                i = from ? parseInt((1 * from) + (from < 0 ? l : 0), 10) : 0;
            i = i < 0 ? 0 : i;
            for (; i < l; i++) {
                if (i in arr && arr[i] === obj) {
                    return i;
                }
            }
            return -1;
        };
}
M225r_162710

Performance

Today 2020.01.07 I perform tests on MacOs HighSierra 10.13.6 on Chrome v78.0.0, Safari v13.0.4 and Firefox v71.0.0 for 15 chosen solutions. Conclusions

  • solutions based on JSON, Set and surprisingly find (K,N,O) are slowest on all browsers
  • the es6 includes (F) is fast only on chrome
  • the solutions based on for (C,D) and indexOf (G,H) are quite-fast on all browsers on small and big arrays so probably they are best choice for efficient solution
  • the solutions where index decrease during loop, (B) is slower probably because the way of CPU cache works.
  • I also run test for big array when searched element was on position 66% of array length, and solutions based on for (C,D,E) gives similar results (~630 ops/sec - but the E on safari and firefox was 10-20% slower than C and D)

Results

enter image description here

Details

I perform 2 tests cases: for array with 10 elements, and array with 1 milion elements. In both cases we put searched element in the array middle.

let log = (name,f) => console.log(`${name}: 3-${f(arr,'s10')}  's7'-${f(arr,'s7')}  6-${f(arr,6)} 's3'-${f(arr,'s3')}`)

let arr = [1,2,3,4,5,'s6','s7','s8','s9','s10'];
//arr = new Array(1000000).fill(123); arr[500000]=7;

function A(a, val) {
    var i = -1;
    var n = a.length;
    while (i++<n) {
       if (a[i] === val) {
           return true;
       }
    }
    return false;
}

function B(a, val) {
    var i = a.length;
    while (i--) {
       if (a[i] === val) {
           return true;
       }
    }
    return false;
}

function C(a, val) {
    for (var i = 0; i < a.length; i++) {
        if (a[i] === val) return true;
    }
    return false;
}

function D(a,val)
{
    var len = a.length;
    for(var i = 0 ; i < len;i++)
    {
        if(a[i] === val) return true;
    }
    return false;
} 

function E(a, val){  
  var n = a.length-1;
  var t = n/2;
  for (var i = 0; i <= t; i++) {
        if (a[i] === val || a[n-i] === val) return true;
  }
  return false;
}

function F(a,val) {
 return a.includes(val);
}

function G(a,val) {
 return a.indexOf(val)>=0;
}

function H(a,val) {
 return !!~a.indexOf(val);
}

function I(a, val) {
  return a.findIndex(x=> x==val)>=0;
}

function J(a,val) {
 return a.some(x=> x===val);
}

function K(a, val) {
  const s = JSON.stringify(val);
  return a.some(x => JSON.stringify(x) === s);
}

function L(a,val) {
 return !a.every(x=> x!==val);
}

function M(a, val) {
  return !!a.find(x=> x==val);
}

function N(a,val) {
 return a.filter(x=>x===val).length > 0;
}

function O(a, val) {
  return new Set(a).has(val);
}

log('A',A);
log('B',B);
log('C',C);
log('D',D);
log('E',E);
log('F',F);
log('G',G);
log('H',H);
log('I',I);
log('J',J);
log('K',K);
log('L',L);
log('M',M);
log('N',N);
log('O',O);
This shippet only presents functions used in performance tests - it not perform tests itself!

Array small - 10 elements

You can perform tests in your machine HERE

enter image description here

Array big - 1.000.000 elements

You can perform tests in your machine HERE

enter image description here

user_8600990
MattMcKnight_81360

If you are using JavaScript 1.6 or later (Firefox 1.5 or later) you can use Array.indexOf. Otherwise, I think you are going to end up with something similar to your original code.

Glomek_59220

If you are checking repeatedly for existence of an object in an array you should maybe look into

  1. Keeping the array sorted at all times by doing insertion sort in your array (put new objects in on the right place)
  2. Make updating objects as remove+sorted insert operation and
  3. Use a binary search lookup in your contains(a, obj).
user_2608050

Simple solution for this requirement is using find()

If you're having array of objects like below,

var users = [{id: "101", name: "Choose one..."},
{id: "102", name: "shilpa"},
{id: "103", name: "anita"},
{id: "104", name: "admin"},
{id: "105", name: "user"}];

Then you can check whether the object with your value is already present or not:

let data = users.find(object => object['id'] === '104');

if data is null then no admin, else it will return the existing object like:

{id: "104", name: "admin"}

Then you can find the index of that object in the array and replace the object using the code:

let indexToUpdate = users.indexOf(data);
let newObject = {id: "104", name: "customer"};
users[indexToUpdate] = newObject;//your new object
console.log(users);

you will get value like:

[{id: "101", name: "Choose one..."},
{id: "102", name: "shilpa"},
{id: "103", name: "anita"},
{id: "104", name: "customer"},
{id: "105", name: "user"}];
user_64044330

There are a couple of method which makes this easy to achieve (includes, some, find, findIndex)

const array = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7];

console.log(array.includes(3));
//includes() determines whether an array includes a certain value among its entries

console.log(array.some(x => x === 3)); 
//some() tests if at least one element in the array passes the test implemented by the provided function

console.log(array.find(x => x === 3) ? true : false);
//find() returns the value of the first element in the provided array that satisfies the provided testing function

console.log(array.findIndex(x => x === 3) > -1);
//findIndex() returns the index of the first element in the array that satisfies the provided testing function, else returning -1.

user_74942180

Surprised that this question still doesn't have latest syntax added, adding my 2 cents.

Let's say we have array of Objects arrObj and we want to search obj in it.

Array.prototype.indexOf -> (returns index or -1) is generally used for finding index of element in array. This can also be used for searching object but only works if you are passing reference to same object.

let obj = { name: 'Sumer', age: 36 };
let arrObj = [obj, { name: 'Kishor', age: 46 }, { name: 'Rupen', age: 26 }];


console.log(arrObj.indexOf(obj));// 0
console.log(arrObj.indexOf({ name: 'Sumer', age: 36 })); //-1

console.log([1, 3, 5, 2].indexOf(2)); //3

Array.prototype.includes -> (returns true or false)

console.log(arrObj.includes(obj));  //true
console.log(arrObj.includes({ name: 'Sumer', age: 36 })); //false

console.log([1, 3, 5, 2].includes(2)); //true

Array.prototype.find -> (takes callback, returns first value/object that returns true in CB).

console.log(arrObj.find(e => e.age > 40));  //{ name: 'Kishor', age: 46 }
console.log(arrObj.find(e => e.age > 40)); //{ name: 'Kishor', age: 46 }

console.log([1, 3, 5, 2].find(e => e > 2)); //3

Array.prototype.findIndex -> (takes callback, returns index of first value/object that returns true in CB).

console.log(arrObj.findIndex(e => e.age > 40));  //1
console.log(arrObj.findIndex(e => e.age > 40)); //1

console.log([1, 3, 5, 2].findIndex(e => e > 2)); //1

Since find and findIndex takes a callback, we can be fetch any object(even if we don't have the reference) from array by creatively setting the true condition.

user_66966840 

    function countArray(originalArray) {
     
     var compressed = [];
     // make a copy of the input array
     var copyArray = originalArray.slice(0);
     
     // first loop goes over every element
     for (var i = 0; i < originalArray.length; i++) {
     
      var count = 0; 
      // loop over every element in the copy and see if it's the same
      for (var w = 0; w < copyArray.length; w++) {
       if (originalArray[i] == copyArray[w]) {
        // increase amount of times duplicate is found
        count++;
        // sets item to undefined
        delete copyArray[w];
       }
      }
     
      if (count > 0) {
       var a = new Object();
       a.value = originalArray[i];
       a.count = count;
       compressed.push(a);
      }
     }
     
     return compressed;
    };
    
    // It should go something like this:
    
    var testArray = new Array("dog", "dog", "cat", "buffalo", "wolf", "cat", "tiger", "cat");
    var newArray = countArray(testArray);
    console.log(newArray);

user_83768180
user_101055170

Use indexOf()

You can use the indexOf() method to check whether a given value or element exists in an array or not. The indexOf() method returns the index of the element inside the array if it is found, and returns -1 if it not found. Let's take a look at the following example:

var fruits = ["Apple", "Banana", "Mango", "Orange", "Papaya"];
var a = "Mango";
checkArray(a, fruits);


function checkArray(a, fruits) {
  // Check if a value exists in the fruits array
  if (fruits.indexOf(a) !== -1) {
    return document.write("true");
  } else {
    return document.write("false");
  }
}

Use include() Method

ES6 has introduced the includes() method to perform this task very easily. But, this method returns only true or false instead of index number:

var fruits = ["Apple", "Banana", "Mango", "Orange", "Papaya"];
alert(fruits.includes("Banana")); // Outputs: true
alert(fruits.includes("Coconut")); // Outputs: false
alert(fruits.includes("Orange")); // Outputs: true
alert(fruits.includes("Cherry")); // Outputs: false

For further reference checkout here

user_100030980

If you're working with ES6 You can use a set:

function arrayHas( array, element ) {
    const s = new Set(array);
    return s.has(element)
}

This should be more performant than just about any other method

user_15002410

I recommended to use underscore library because its return the value and its supported for all browsers.

underscorejs

 var findValue = _.find(array, function(item) {
    return item.id == obj.id;
 });
user_17590150

In Addition to what others said, if you don't have a reference of the object which you want to search in the array, then you can do something like this.

let array = [1, 2, 3, 4, {"key": "value"}];

array.some((element) => JSON.stringify(element) === JSON.stringify({"key": "value"})) // true

array.some((element) => JSON.stringify(element) === JSON.stringify({})) // true

Array.some returns true if any element matches the given condition and returns false if none of the elements matches the given condition.

user_90951220

Object.keys for getting all property names of the object and filter all values that exact or partial match with specified string.

function filterByValue(array, string) {
  return array.filter(o =>
    Object.keys(o).some(k => o[k].toLowerCase().includes(string.toLowerCase())));
}

const arrayOfObject = [{
  name: 'Paul',
  country: 'Canada',
}, {
  name: 'Lea',
  country: 'Italy',
}, {
  name: 'John',
  country: 'Italy'
}];

console.log(filterByValue(arrayOfObject, 'lea')); // [{name: 'Lea', country: 'Italy'}]
console.log(filterByValue(arrayOfObject, 'ita')); // [{name: 'Lea', country: 'Italy'}, {name: 'John', country: 'Italy'}]

You can also filter by specific key such as.

Object.keys(o).some(k => o.country.toLowerCase().includes(string.toLowerCase())));

Now you can just check array count after filtered to check value contains or not.

Hope it's helpful.

user_39154100

Adding a unique item to a another list

searchResults: [
                {
                    name: 'Hello',
                    artist: 'Selana',
                    album: 'Riga',
                    id: 1,
                },
                {
                    name: 'Hello;s',
                    artist: 'Selana G',
                    album: 'Riga1',
                    id: 2,
                },
                {
                    name: 'Hello2',
                    artist: 'Selana',
                    album: 'Riga11',
                    id: 3,
                }
            ],
            playlistTracks: [
              {
                name: 'Hello',
                artist: 'Mamunuus',
                album: 'Riga',
                id: 4,
              },
              {
                name: 'Hello;s',
                artist: 'Mamunuus G',
                album: 'Riga1',
                id: 2,
              },
              {
                name: 'Hello2',
                artist: 'Mamunuus New',
                album: 'Riga11',
                id: 3,
              }
            ],
            playlistName: "New PlayListTrack",
        };
    }

    // Adding an unique track in the playList
    addTrack = track => {
      if(playlistTracks.find(savedTrack => savedTrack.id === track.id)) {
        return;
      }
      playlistTracks.push(track);

      this.setState({
        playlistTracks
      })
    };
user_79408240

This may be a detailed and easy solution.

//plain array
var arr = ['a', 'b', 'c'];
var check = arr.includes('a');
console.log(check); //returns true
if (check)
{
   // value exists in array
   //write some codes
}

// array with objects
var arr = [
      {x:'a', y:'b'},
      {x:'p', y:'q'}
  ];

// if you want to check if x:'p' exists in arr
var check = arr.filter(function (elm){
    if (elm.x == 'p')
    {
       return elm; // returns length = 1 (object exists in array)
    }
});

// or y:'q' exists in arr
var check = arr.filter(function (elm){
    if (elm.y == 'q')
    {
       return elm; // returns length = 1 (object exists in array)
    }
});

// if you want to check, if the entire object {x:'p', y:'q'} exists in arr
var check = arr.filter(function (elm){
    if (elm.x == 'p' && elm.y == 'q')
    {
       return elm; // returns length = 1 (object exists in array)
    }
});

// in all cases
console.log(check.length); // returns 1

if (check.length > 0)
{
   // returns true
   // object exists in array
   //write some codes
}
user_21790620

The best default method to check if value exist in array JavaScript is some()

Array.prototype.some()

The some() method tests whether at least one element in the array passes the test implemented by the provided function. It returns true if, in the array, it finds an element for which the provided function returns true; otherwise it returns false. It doesn't modify the array.

const array = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];

// checks whether an element is even
const even = (element) => element % 2 === 0;

console.log(array.some(even));
// expected output: true

The some method is the best one in Browser compatibility Browser compatibility

For more documentation Array.prototype.some() - JavaScript | MDN

Also you can use other two method is find() and includes(). with those method you can get your result but not the best one.

Array.prototype.find() - JavaScript | MDN

Array.prototype.includes() - JavaScript | MDN

user_52534560

Simple solution : ES6 Features "includes" method

let arr = [1, 2, 3, 2, 3, 2, 3, 4];

  arr.includes(2) // true

  arr.includes(93) // false
user_77659000

Using RegExp:

console.log(new RegExp('26242').test(['23525', '26242', '25272'].join(''))) // true
user_112090370

If you're just trying to check whether a value is included in a collection, It would be more appropriate to use a Set, As Arrays can have duplicate values whereas Sets cannot. Also, Replacing array.includes with set.has improves the performance from O(n2) to O(n). This will be useful when you have to look up multiple values for the same Set. so if you're just going to look up a single value, there's no benefit to use set.has, you can just use an array.includes.

Created a jsbench demo, You can run this to check the performance.

Screenshot of the test execution :

enter image description here

user_41163000

You can use findIndex function to check if an array has a specific value.

arrObj.findIndex(obj => obj === comparedValue) !== -1;

Returns true if arrObj contains comparedValue, false otherwise.

user_140138260

The fastest method in Javascript to find if an array contains a value is this:

function existsInArrayForIgnoreDataType(arr, targetElem) {
  for (let i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
    if (arr[i] == targetElem) return true
  }
  return false
 }

You can find the complete study I did here.

user_15431630

There are several ways to find out. You can use inbuilt Array methods. The most prominently used is Array find method.

const arr1 = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
const result = arr1.find(ele => ele === 4)
console.log(result) //4

const result2 = arr1.find(ele => ele === 6)
console.log(result2) //undefined
/* 
If the element is present inside the array
then it will return the first element that
satisfies the given condition. Otherwise
undefined will return.
*/
user_184678420
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