Find difference between two dates in JavaScript

This post will discuss how to find the difference between two dates in days with JavaScript.

1. Using `Date` object

We can use the Date object and its getTime() function, which returns the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970 00:00:00 UTC. We can create two Date objects with the dates we want to compare, and then subtract their getTime() values to get the difference in milliseconds. We can then convert the difference to days, hours, minutes, seconds, etc. by dividing it by the appropriate factors.

// Two date strings

const first = '01/25/2020';

const second = 'January 15, 2020';

// Create two Date objects with the dates to compare

const x = new Date(first);

const y = new Date(second);

// Get the difference in milliseconds

const diff = x.getTime() - y.getTime();

// seconds = milliseconds / 1000

// minutes = seconds / 60

// hours = minutes / 60

// Days = hours / 24

// Convert the difference to days

const days = diff / (1000 * 60 * 60 * 24);

// Print the result

console.log(days + " days"); // 10 days

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We may also use the - operator with Date objects, which returns the time difference in milliseconds between two Date objects. The following code illustrates this:

// Two date strings

const first = '01/25/2020';

const second = 'January 15, 2020';

// Create two Date objects with the dates to compare

const x = new Date(first);

const y = new Date(second);

// Get the difference in milliseconds

const diff = x - y;

// Convert the difference to days

const days = diff / (1000 * 60 * 60 * 24);

// Print the result

console.log(days + " days"); // 10 days

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2. Using `Moment.js` library

The Moment.js is a popular lightweight library that simplifies working with dates and times in JavaScript. The moment() function returns a moment object that wraps a Date object and provides many useful functions and properties. We can use the diff() function to get the difference between two moment objects in various units, such as days, hours, minutes, seconds, etc. To get the difference in days, we can pass 'days' as the second argument, as demonstrated below:

// Import Moment library

const moment = require('moment');

// Two date strings

const first = '01/25/2020';

const second = 'January 15, 2020';

// Create two moment objects with the dates to compare

const x = new moment(first, 'L');

const y = new moment(second, 'LL')

// Get the difference in days

const days = x.diff(y, 'days');

// Print the result

console.log(days + " days"); // 10 days

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That’s all about finding the difference between the two dates in days in JavaScript.

Find difference between two dates in JavaScript

1. Using Date object

2. Using Moment.js library

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1. Using `Date` object

2. Using `Moment.js` library