.lastIndexOf()

The .lastIndexOf() array method returns the last index at which an element can be found. Otherwise, it returns -1 if the element is not found.

The array is searched backward, starting at fromIndex. If fromIndex is undefined, the search starts from the last index.

Syntax

array.lastIndexOf(searchElement, fromIndex);

• searchElement: The element we are looking for.
• fromIndex (optional): The starting index position that search begins.

A negative fromIndex will offset from the end of the array to begin search. The array is still searched backward.

Note: The default value of fromIndex is array.length - 1.

Example 1

Find the last index of 2 in the numbers array:

const numbers = [1, 2, 3];
const lastIndexOf2 = numbers.lastIndexOf(2);

console.log(lastIndexOf2);
// Output: 1

Since the fromIndex is not specified, the search will start at the end of the array. Then, iterating backward, the element we are searching for is found at index 1.

Example 2

If the element is not found, the result will be -1:

const fruits = ['apple', 'orange', 'peach'];

const lastIndexOfCherry = fruits.lastIndexOf('cherry');

console.log(lastIndexOfCherry);
// Output: -1

Example 3

Check if the color ‘blue’ is in the rainbow array, before the fifth element:

const rainbow = [
  'red',
  'orange',
  'yellow',
  'green',
  'blue',
  'indigo',
  'violet',
];

const checkIndigo = rainbow.lastIndexOf('indigo', 4);

console.log(checkIndigo);
// Output: -1

Since fromIndex is assigned to 4, the search will begin at blue and search all previous elements before it. The element indigo will not be found by the search because none of the elements after blue will be searched.

Example 4

Multiple matches will only return the last index where a match occurs:

const repeatGreeting = ['hello world', 'hello world', 'hello world'];

const lastGreeting = repeatGreeting.lastIndexOf('hello world');

console.log(lastGreeting);
// Output: 2