---
name: Convert a Buffer to a string
---

The [`Buffer`](https://nodejs.org/api/buffer.html) class provides a built-in `.toString()` method that converts a `Buffer` to a string.

```ts
const buf = Buffer.from("hello");
const str = buf.toString();
// => "hello"
```

---

You can optionally specify an encoding and byte range.

```ts
const buf = Buffer.from("hello world!");
const str = buf.toString("utf8", 0, 5);
// => "hello"
```

---

See [Docs > API > Binary Data](/docs/api/binary-data#conversion) for complete documentation on manipulating binary data with Bun.