How To Create UUID/GUID In JavaScript With Examples

To create GUID or UUID in JavaScript we can use the following methods

1. Javascript Math.Random()
2. ES6 crypto API getRandomValues method.

GUID or UUID generated by Math.Random() may not be unique.

According to the RFC4122  version 4 complaint. A GUID or UUID should be in below format

 xxxxxxxx-xxxx-Mxxx-Nxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx
 Where the allowed values of M and N are 1,2,3,4 and 5

On this page

Creating GUID/UUID in Javascript using Math.Random(): #

To create or generate UUID or GUID in javascript use the following code with Math.Random() function

function CreateUUID() {
  return 'xxxxxxxx-xxxx-4xxx-yxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx'.replace(/[xy]/g, function(c) {
    var r = Math.random() * 16 | 0, v = c == 'x' ? r : (r & 0x3 | 0x8);
    return v.toString(16);
  });
}

Creating GUID/UUID in Javascript using ES6 Crypto API #

We can use JavaScript ES6’s crypto API to generate GUID/UUID at the client side.

crypto API comes up with a method called getRandomValues() which is used to generate a Universally Unique IDentifier as shown below

function CreateUUID() {
  return ([1e7]+-1e3+-4e3+-8e3+-1e11).replace(/[018]/g, c =>
    (c ^ crypto.getRandomValues(new Uint8Array(1))[0] & 15 >> c / 4).toString(16)
  )
}

Generated UUID/GUID Javascript examples: #

The following UUID examples are generated using the above es6 code.

CreateUUID()
"95d92b5c-f19b-45d9-bbd1-759e4f2206ea"
CreateUUID()
"1985f93d-0cbd-4924-a821-ad425f52c49e"
CreateUUID()
"8b7395f7-9331-42ad-a736-3ea1aac063fa"
CreateUUID()
"d24da55b-c045-438f-a88e-9fa6efb08059"
CreateUUID()
"cc0c8f78-fcc7-43a2-ad8e-7c363da9fc24"
CreateUUID()
"e29fe0f5-07ea-4673-8b50-26c9323c433b"
CreateUUID()
"b9cba682-15a6-4444-9199-0fbbc53862a3"
CreateUUID()
"5d65a6a5-0449-45c3-8aa1-1aa55c0830de"
CreateUUID()
"141d4656-fb74-4719-bc90-ef54ba47ecbb"

References:

StackOverflow