ArrayBuffer.prototype.slice()

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2015.

The slice() method of ArrayBuffer instances returns a new ArrayBuffer whose contents are a copy of this ArrayBuffer's bytes from start, inclusive, up to end, exclusive. If either start or end is negative, it refers to an index from the end of the array, as opposed to from the beginning.

Try it

// Create an ArrayBuffer with a size in bytes
const buffer = new ArrayBuffer(16);
const int32View = new Int32Array(buffer);
// Produces Int32Array [0, 0, 0, 0]

int32View[1] = 42;
const sliced = new Int32Array(buffer.slice(4, 12));
// Produces Int32Array [42, 0]

console.log(sliced[0]);
// Expected output: 42

Syntax

js
slice()
slice(start)
slice(start, end)

Parameters

start Optional

Zero-based index at which to start extraction, converted to an integer.

Negative index counts back from the end of the buffer — if -buffer.length <= start < 0, start + buffer.length is used.
If start < -buffer.length or start is omitted, 0 is used.
If start >= buffer.length, an empty buffer is returned.

end Optional

Zero-based index at which to end extraction, converted to an integer. slice() extracts up to but not including end.

Negative index counts back from the end of the buffer — if -buffer.length <= end < 0, end + buffer.length is used.
If end < -buffer.length, 0 is used.
If end >= buffer.length or end is omitted is undefined, buffer.length is used, causing all elements until the end to be extracted.
If end implies a position before or at the position that start implies, an empty buffer is returned.

Return value

A new ArrayBuffer containing the extracted elements. It is not resizable, even if the original was.

Examples

Copying an ArrayBuffer

js
const buf1 = new ArrayBuffer(8);
const buf2 = buf1.slice(0);

Specifications

Specification

ECMAScript® 2027 Language Specification
# sec-arraybuffer.prototype.slice

Browser compatibility

Enable JavaScript to view this browser compatibility table.

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This page was last modified on Jul 10, 2025 by MDN contributors.

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Standard built-in objects
ArrayBuffer
Constructor
1. ArrayBuffer()
Static methods
1. isView()
Static properties
1. [Symbol.species]
Instance methods
Instance properties
Inheritance
Object/Function
Static methods
Static properties
Instance methods
Instance properties
1. __proto__
2. constructor