Regular Expressions 101

Save & Share

Flavor

  • PCRE2 (PHP >=7.3)
  • PCRE (PHP <7.3)
  • ECMAScript (JavaScript)
  • Python
  • Golang
  • Java 8
  • .NET 7.0 (C#)
  • Rust
  • Regex Flavor Guide

Function

  • Match
  • Substitution
  • List
  • Unit Tests

Tools

Sponsors
There are currently no sponsors. Become a sponsor today!
An explanation of your regex will be automatically generated as you type.
Detailed match information will be displayed here automatically.
  • All Tokens
  • Common Tokens
  • General Tokens
  • Anchors
  • Meta Sequences
  • Quantifiers
  • Group Constructs
  • Character Classes
  • Flags/Modifiers
  • Substitution
  • A single character of: a, b or c
    [abc]
  • A character except: a, b or c
    [^abc]
  • A character in the range: a-z
    [a-z]
  • A character not in the range: a-z
    [^a-z]
  • A character in the range: a-z or A-Z
    [a-zA-Z]
  • Any single character
    .
  • Alternate - match either a or b
    a|b
  • Any whitespace character
    \s
  • Any non-whitespace character
    \S
  • Any digit
    \d
  • Any non-digit
    \D
  • Any word character
    \w
  • Any non-word character
    \W
  • Match everything enclosed
    (?:...)
  • Capture everything enclosed
    (...)
  • Zero or one of a
    a?
  • Zero or more of a
    a*
  • One or more of a
    a+
  • Exactly 3 of a
    a{3}
  • 3 or more of a
    a{3,}
  • Between 3 and 6 of a
    a{3,6}
  • Start of string
    ^
  • End of string
    $
  • A word boundary
    \b
  • Non-word boundary
    \B

Regular Expression
No Match

/
/
gm

Test String

Code Generator

Language

Generated Code

const regex = /^([\+]?[1]?[\s]?(\d{3}|\(\d{3}\)))[\-|\s]?\d{3}[\-|\s]?\d{4}$/gm; // Alternative syntax using RegExp constructor // const regex = new RegExp('^([\\+]?[1]?[\\s]?(\\d{3}|\\(\\d{3}\\)))[\\-|\\s]?\\d{3}[\\-|\\s]?\\d{4}$', 'gm') const str = `(555) 555-555-5555 (555)555-5555 (555) 555-5555 555 555 5555 5555555555 1-(555)5555555 555555555 55 555 5555 +1555 5555555 1 555 555 5555 1 (555) 555-5555 -1 (757) 622-7382 +1 (757) 622-7382 123**&!!asdf# (6505552368) 1 555)555-5555 1 (555 555-5555 (555-555-5555 (\\+|\\+1|\\+1\\-|1\\-|1)?(\\s)?((\\([0-9]{3}\\)|[0-9]{3}))(\\s|\\-)([0-9]{3})(\\s|\\-)?([0-9]{3,4}) (?:(?:\\+? 1 \\s* (?:[.-]\\s*)?)? (?:\\(\\s*([2-9]1[02-9]|[2-9][02-8]1| [2-9][02-8][02-9])\\s*\\)| ( [2-9]1[02-9]| [2-9][02-8]1| [2-9][02-8][02-9]))\\s* (?:[.-]\\s*)? )? ([2-9]1[02-9]|[2-9][02-9]1|[2-9][02-9]{2})\\s*(?:[.-]\\s*)? ([0-9]{4}) (?:\\s*(?:#|x\\.?|ext\\.?|extension)\\s* (\\d+) )? `; // Reset `lastIndex` if this regex is defined globally // regex.lastIndex = 0; let m; while ((m = regex.exec(str)) !== null) { // This is necessary to avoid infinite loops with zero-width matches if (m.index === regex.lastIndex) { regex.lastIndex++; } // The result can be accessed through the `m`-variable. m.forEach((match, groupIndex) => { console.log(`Found match, group ${groupIndex}: ${match}`); }); }

Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for JavaScript, please visit: https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Web/JavaScript/Guide/Regular_Expressions