JavaScript reverse method
last modified April 4, 2025
In this article we show how to reverse arrays using the reverse method
in JavaScript.
Array reversal
Array reversal is the operation of changing the order of elements in an array.
The reverse method reverses the order of elements in an array in
place. The first element becomes last, and the last element becomes first.
This method modifies the original array and returns a reference to the same
array. Unlike some array methods, reverse does not create a new
array but changes the existing one.
The reverse method is useful when you need to process elements in
reverse order or display data from newest to oldest. It works with all types
of array elements including numbers, strings, and objects.
Basic reverse example
The following example demonstrates the basic usage of the reverse
method.
const fruits = ['apple', 'banana', 'cherry']; fruits.reverse(); console.log(fruits);
We create an array of fruits and reverse its order. The original array is modified directly. The first element becomes last and vice versa.
$ node main.js [ 'cherry', 'banana', 'apple' ]
Reversing an array of numbers
The reverse method works with arrays containing any data type.
const numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]; numbers.reverse(); console.log(numbers);
We reverse an array of numbers. The method works the same way regardless of the element type. The original array is modified in place.
$ node main.js [ 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ]
Reversing and creating a new array
To reverse an array without modifying the original, we can create a copy first.
const original = ['a', 'b', 'c']; const reversed = [...original].reverse(); console.log(original); console.log(reversed);
We use the spread operator to create a shallow copy of the array before reversing. This preserves the original array while giving us a reversed version.
$ node main.js [ 'a', 'b', 'c' ] [ 'c', 'b', 'a' ]
Reversing a string using reverse
We can use reverse with string manipulation by converting to an array.
const str = 'hello';
const reversedStr = str.split('').reverse().join('');
console.log(reversedStr);
We split the string into an array of characters, reverse the array, then join it back into a string. This is a common technique for string reversal in JS.
$ node main.js olleh
Reversing nested arrays
The reverse method only reverses the top-level array elements.
const nested = [[1, 2], [3, 4], [5, 6]]; nested.reverse(); console.log(nested);
When reversing an array containing nested arrays, the nested arrays themselves are reversed as elements. Their internal order remains unchanged.
$ node main.js [ [ 5, 6 ], [ 3, 4 ], [ 1, 2 ] ]
Source
Array reverse - language reference
In this article we have demonstrated how to use the reverse() method to reverse arrays in JavaScript.