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Regex Tester

Test and debug regular expressions in real-time. Everything runs in your browser — no data is sent anywhere.

auto_awesome Common Presets
code Regular Expression
/ /
error
edit_note Test String
highlight Highlighted Matches
Matches will appear here...
analytics Results
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Matches
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Groups
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ms
No matches found.
menu_book Quick Reference
.Any character (except newline)
\dDigit (0-9)
\wWord char (a-z, 0-9, _)
\sWhitespace
\bWord boundary
^Start of string/line
$End of string/line
*0 or more times
+1 or more times
?0 or 1 time
{n,m}Between n and m times
[abc]Character class (a, b or c)
(abc)Capture group
a|ba or b (alternation)
(?:abc)Non-capture group
(?=abc)Positive lookahead

About the Regex Tester

This free online regex tester helps you write, test and debug regular expressions. Whether you want to validate an email address, find URLs or parse text, this tool lets you instantly see which parts of your text match your pattern.

What is a Regular Expression?

A regular expression (regex) is a sequence of characters that defines a search pattern. Regex is widely used in programming languages like JavaScript, Python, PHP and Java for searching, validating and replacing text.

Features of this Tool

  • Real-time match highlighting as you type
  • Support for flags: global (g), case-insensitive (i), multiline (m) and dotall (s)
  • Detailed results with capture groups and positions
  • Common presets for email, URL, phone, IP address and date
  • Handy quick reference for the most used regex syntax
  • 100% client-side - your data never leaves your browser

Tips for Beginners

  • Start with simple patterns and gradually build up complexity
  • Use the preset patterns as a starting point
  • Always test with multiple sample texts to discover edge cases
  • Remember that special characters like . * + ? ( ) [ ] { } \ | ^ $ need a backslash to match them literally