Regular Expression Tester

Test and debug regular expressions with real-time matching, flags support, and replacement functionality.

Regular Expression

Test Text

Replace (Optional)

Match Results

Enter a regex and test text to see matches...

Match Details

Detailed match information will appear here...

Highlighted Text

Highlighted matches will appear here...

Quick Examples

Regular Expression Syntax Guide

Basic Patterns

. Any character except newline
\w Word character [a-zA-Z0-9_]
\d Digit [0-9]
\s Whitespace character
^ Start of string/line
$ End of string/line

Quantifiers

* Zero or more
+ One or more
? Zero or one
{n} Exactly n times
{n,} At least n times
{n,m} Between n and m times

Character Classes

[abc] Any of a, b, or c
[^abc] Not a, b, or c
[a-z] Range from a to z
\b Word boundary

Common Regex Patterns

Email Address

^[a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\.[a-zA-Z]{2,}$

Validates standard email format with proper domain structure.

Validation RFC Compliant

US Phone Number

^\(\d{3}\)\s\d{3}-\d{4}$

Matches (123) 456-7890 format.

US Format Strict

HTTP/HTTPS URL

^https?:\/\/(www\.)?[-a-zA-Z0-9@:%._\+~#=]{1,256}\.[a-zA-Z0-9()]{1,6}\b([-a-zA-Z0-9()@:%_\+.~#?&//=]*)$

Comprehensive URL validation for web addresses.

Web URLs Complete

Credit Card Number

^\d{4}\s\d{4}\s\d{4}\s\d{4}$

Basic credit card format validation (16 digits).

Financial Basic

ISO Date (YYYY-MM-DD)

^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}$

Validates ISO 8601 date format.

ISO 8601 Standard

Hex Color Code

^#[0-9A-Fa-f]{6}$

Validates 6-digit hexadecimal color codes.

Colors CSS

Performance Optimization Tips

Best Practices

  • Be Specific

    Use specific character classes instead of broad wildcards when possible.

  • Anchor Patterns

    Use ^ and $ to anchor patterns to start/end for faster matching.

  • Avoid Nested Quantifiers

    Nested quantifiers can cause exponential backtracking.

  • Use Non-Capturing Groups

    Use (?:...) instead of (...) when you don't need capture groups.

Common Pitfalls

  • Catastrophic Backtracking

    Patterns like (a+)+ can cause exponential time complexity.

  • Greedy Quantifiers

    .* will match everything - use .*? for lazy matching when appropriate.

  • Overly Broad Patterns

    .* matches everything including newlines - be specific about what you want.

  • Unnecessary Groups

    Don't capture groups you don't need - use (?:...) for grouping only.