How to Check if a JavaScript Variable is Undefined

Feb 25, 2021

In JavaScript, checking if a variable is undefined can be a bit tricky since a null variable can pass a check for undefined if not written properly. As a result, this allows for undefined values to slip through and vice versa. Make sure you use strict equality === to check if a value is equal to undefined.

let x;
const y = null;

x == null && y == undefined; // true
x === null || y === undefined; // false
x == null && typeof x == 'object'; // false
x === undefined && typeof x == 'undefined'; // true

Another alternative is checking if typeof x === 'undefined'. The biggest difference between these two approaches is that, if x has not been declared, x === undefined throws a ReferenceError, but typeof does not.

When using x === undefined, JavaScript checks if x is a declared variable that is strictly equal to undefined. If you want to check if x is strictly equal to undefined regardless of whether is has been declared or not, you should use typeof x === 'undefined'.

 x === undefined; // Throws a ReferenceError
 typeof x == 'undefined'; // true

However, typeof x may still throw an error if you later declare x using let or const:

typeof x; // Throws "ReferenceError: Cannot access 'x' before initialization" because of `let`
let x = 42;

Checking Whether Object Properties are Undefined

Checking whether an object property is undefined is subtle, because if you access a property that doesn't exist in the object, JavaScript will report the property's value as undefined rather than throw a ReferenceError.

const obj = { answer: 42, question: undefined };

obj.answer; // 42
obj.question; // undefined
obj.notInObject; // undefined

In JavaScript obj.propName === undefined is true if either obj has a property 'propName' and the property's value is trictly equal undefined, or if obj does not have a property 'propName'. If you want to check whether obj has a property and that property is strictly equal to undefined, you should use the in operator.

const obj = { answer: 42, question: undefined };

('question' in obj && obj.question === undefined); // true
('notInObject' in obj && obj.notInObj === undefined); // false

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