How to Convert a String to Char in Java

1. charAt() to Convert String to Char in Java
2. toCharArray() to Convert String to Char in Java

This tutorial discusses methods to convert a string to a char in Java.

charAt() to Convert String to Char in Java

The simplest way to convert a character from a String to a char is using the charAt(index) method. This method takes an integer as input and returns the character on the given index in the String as a char.

The below example illustrates this:

public class MyClass {
  public static void main(String args[]) {
    String myString = "string";
    char myChar = myString.charAt(0);
    System.out.println(myChar);
  }
}

Output:

s

However, if you try to input an integer greater than the length of the String, it will throw an error.

The below example illustrates this:

public class MyClass {
  public static void main(String args[]) {
    String myString = "string";
    char myChar = myString.charAt(6);
    System.out.println(myChar);
  }
}

Output:

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.StringIndexOutOfBoundsException: String index out of range: 6
	at java.base/java.lang.StringLatin1.charAt(StringLatin1.java:47)
	at java.base/java.lang.String.charAt(String.java:693)
	at MyClass.main(MyClass.java:4)

toCharArray() to Convert String to Char in Java

We can use this method if we want to convert the whole string to a character array.

The below example illustrates this:

public class MyClass {
  public static void main(String args[]) {
    String myString = "string";
    char[] myChars = myString.toCharArray();
    for (int i = 0; i < myChars.length; i++) {
      System.out.println(myChars[i]);
    }
  }
}

Output:

s
t
r
i
n
g

If we want to access a char at a specific location, we can simply use myChars[index] to get the char at the specified location.