removing the # from window.location.hash

Question

I have this simple script:

$(document).ready(function(){

var $yoyo = window.location.hash;

alert($yoyo);

});

But I need to get rid of the # symbol as I'll be using the variable to locate div ids. I've tried using .remove('#') but that doesn't seem to be working.

Many thanks in advance!

http://stackoverflow.com/a/5298684/104380 – vsync Feb 02 '13 at 22:00 — vsync, Feb 02 '13 at 22:00

score 93 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 30 '10 at 23:18

93

var $yoyo = window.location.hash.substring(1);

This simply means we're taking a substring consisting of character 1 (0-indexed, so second) onwards. See the substring docs.

answered Jul 30 '10 at 23:18

Matthew Flaschen

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9

This works as long as the string actually starts with "#", but it could be argued that this is more robust and easier to read: `window.location.hash.replace(/^#/, "")`. – Christian Davén May 02 '16 at 09:14
@ChristianDavén `window.location.hash` will always have a hash in front or be empty, and `''.substring(1) === ''`, so I think that solution is pretty robust. I do think yours is more readable though. (Also see http://lea.verou.me/2011/05/get-your-hash-the-bulletproof-way/) – Steve Harrison Mar 01 '17 at 01:05

score 15 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 30 '10 at 23:18

15

var $yoyo = window.location.hash.replace("#", "");

.remove() is a jQuery dom manipulation function. .replace() is a native javascript function that replaces a string with another string inside of a string. From W3Schools:

<script type="text/javascript">

var str="Visit Microsoft!";
document.write(str.replace("Microsoft", "W3Schools"));

</script>

answered Jul 30 '10 at 23:18

Mike Sherov

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Of course since this is Stack Overflow, it's a jQuery DOM manipulation function. But in fact it could be anything. -_- – Will Morgan Jul 04 '11 at 14:59
@Will, the post was tagged with jQuery. It couldn't be just anything ;) – Mike Sherov Jul 09 '11 at 17:37

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 30 '10 at 23:18

3

$yoyo.substr(1)

answered Jul 30 '10 at 23:18

Anurag

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score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 06 '21 at 14:18

For those who may not have read the lea verou blog shared by Steve Harrison, a version with 4 less bytes and using newer JS definitions would be:

let $yoyo = window.location.hash.slice(1)

Slice is an array method that when given one index returns the values from the starting index to the last index. Since strings in Javascript are considered an array of characters and the location hash will always have a starting # or be an empty string, this works.

http://lea.verou.me/2011/05/get-your-hash-the-bulletproof-way/

removing the # from window.location.hash

4 Answers4