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Pattern

Regex for Alphanumeric

Letters and digits only, no spaces or symbols.

The Alphanumeric regex is ^[A-Za-z0-9]+$ — copy it below, or open it in the explainer for a token-by-token breakdown.

The pattern

^[A-Za-z0-9]+$
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Token-by-token breakdown

Every part of the pattern, left to right:

TokenMeaning
^start of string (or line in multiline mode)
[A-Za-z0-9]+one or more: any of: uppercase letters, lowercase letters, digits
$end of string (or line in multiline mode)

About this pattern

Number patterns appear constantly in form validation, log parsing, and data extraction. Regex is great for matching the shape but limited for semantic checks (range validation, mathematical constraints).

Quick usage in different languages

This exact pattern — with the correct escaping and idioms for each language:

  • JavaScript: /^[A-Za-z0-9]+$/.test(value)
  • Python: re.match(r"^[A-Za-z0-9]+$", value)
  • Java: Pattern.compile("^[A-Za-z0-9]+$").matcher(value).matches()
  • C# / .NET: Regex.IsMatch(value, @"^[A-Za-z0-9]+$")
  • Go: regexp.MustCompile(`^[A-Za-z0-9]+$`).MatchString(value)
  • Ruby: /^[A-Za-z0-9]+$/.match?(value)
  • PHP: preg_match('~^[A-Za-z0-9]+$~', $value)

The explainer’s Code tab regenerates these for any pattern you paste, and the downloadable cheat sheet bundles the breakdown, all seven snippets, and the pitfalls below onto one printable page.

Common pitfalls

  • Anchored to the whole string. This pattern uses ^ and $, so it requires the entire input to match. To find it inside a longer text, drop the anchors and use the global (g) flag.
  • ASCII letters only. [a-zA-Z] excludes accented and non-Latin letters (é, ü, ß, ñ, and non-Latin scripts). For international input use Unicode properties like \p{L} with the u flag.
  • Validate beyond format. Matching the format doesn't guarantee the value is real. Confirm the alphanumeric against a source of truth (database, API, or checksum) where it matters.

Related patterns

More patterns in the Numbers & text category:

See also

Browse all 300 patterns in the library, or open this regex in the interactive explainer for a token-by-token breakdown, live testing, and code in seven languages.


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