How To Remove Trailing Zeros From A Number Using JavaScript

In JavaScript, you can remove all trailing zeros from a number by either using the global parseFloat() function or by using the Number class’ .toFixed() function.

Remove trailing zeros from a number using JavaScript

Using the parseFloat() function (removes trailing zero decimals only)

A thing to note is that when a number value is set, it will not contain any trailing decimal zeros. So for example, the number 11454500.0200 will be set as 11454500.02.

However, the only situation you’ll meet this issue is when you have a string that is formatted as a number. There lies the solution above, you only need to convert the string into a number, specifically afloat. And to do that, you simply need to use the Number class’ static Number.parseFloat() (or simply shortened to the parseFloat() function).

Syntax:

parseFloat(string str);

So with that in mind, we have:

const strNum = "12345.67000000";
const num = parseFloat(strNum);
const newStrNum = num;
console.log(newStrNum);

Output:

12345.67

Using the Number.prototype.toFixed() function

A second method would be to use the Number class’ .toFixed() function, though please note that there are multiple issues with this function.

Syntax: Number.prototype.toFixed(int decimals);

The .toFixed() function takes a number and reformats them into a string with a fixed point, i.e., the number will always have exactly decimals number of decimals. If the decimals is smaller than the number of decimals in total, it will round the decimal after the decimals.  On the other hand, if decimals is greater than the number of decimals in total, it will pad out zeros at the end to compensate.

So for example:

Code:

const num = 12345.67000000;
const fixedNum = num.toFixed(2);
console.log(fixedNum);

Output:

12345.67

While this may seem fine on its own, there lies the issue:

1. You need to do it check manually what decimal the first trailing zero is, hence automation in this case is extremely cumbersome.
2. If the decimals is larger than the index of the first trailing zero, it will not remove the zeros and at worse create more
3. If the decimals is smaller than the index of the first trailing zero, it will round the decimals behind it, changing the value.

With all of that in consideration, it is highly unadvised that you use this method.

However, the .toFixed() function finds more utility in displaying numbers. Such as displaying irrational numbers or formatting dollars. For example:

Code:

const num = 1/3;
const money = 12.59431;
console.log(num.toFixed(3));
console.log("$" + money.toFixed(2));

Output:

0.333
$12.59

Summary

In JavaScript, you can remove trailing zeros from a number by either converting the number to a Float with the global parseFloat() function or use the Number class’ .toFixed() function, though note that the latter method is highly unadvised and has more utility in displaying numbers.

Maybe you are interested:

• Remove The Leading Zeros From A Number Using JavaScript
• How to Pad a number with Leading Zeros in JavaScript
• How to add Leading Zeros to a Number in JavaScript

Davis Cole

Hello, my name is Davis Cole. I love learning and sharing knowledge about programming languages. Some of my strengths are Java, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, C#,… I believe my articles about them will help you a lot.

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Programming Languages: Java, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, C#, ASP.NET, SQL, PHP