JavaScript - remove last 3 characters from string

In this article, we're going to have a look at how to remove the last 3 characters from the string in JavaScript.

1. String slice() method example

This approach allows getting substring by using negative indexes. So by using 0 and -3 indexes as the range we get <0, text.length - 3> text range. 

// ONLINE-RUNNER:browser;

var text = 'abcde';
var substring = text.slice(0, -3);

console.log(substring); // ab

2. String substring() method example

This is an alternative approach to slice method based solution.

// ONLINE-RUNNER:browser;

var text = 'abcde';
var substring = text.substring(0, text.length - 3);

console.log(substring); // ab

3. String replace() method example

There is another trick that allows replacing all characters that match expression condition. By using .{0,3}$ pattern we match any 3 characters (up to 3 characters) that are located at the end of the string.

// ONLINE-RUNNER:browser;

var text = 'abcde';
var substring = text.replace(/.{0,3}$/, '');

console.log(substring); // ab