TypeScript Utility Types: The Complete List with Examples

Utility types are generic types built into TypeScript that turn one type into another. Instead of writing a second User type with every field optional, you write Partial<User>; instead of copying three fields, Pick<User, "id" | "name">. They are global, so no import is needed.

interface User {
  id: number;
  name: string;
  email: string;
  password: string;
}

type UserPatch = Partial<User>;                 // every field optional
type UserCard = Pick<User, "id" | "name">;      // only id and name
type PublicUser = Omit<User, "password">;       // everything but password
type UsersById = Record<number, PublicUser>;    // an object keyed by id

const patch: UserPatch = { email: "new@example.com" };
const card: UserCard = { id: 1, name: "Ada" };
const users: UsersById = {
  1: { id: 1, name: "Ada", email: "ada@example.com" },
};

console.log(patch, card, users[1].email);
// { email: 'new@example.com' } { id: 1, name: 'Ada' } ada@example.com

When User changes, all four derived types follow. TypeScript's standard library (lib.es5.d.ts) declares 22 utility types. The sections below list all of them, grouped by the kind of type they work on, with a link to the detailed page where there is one.

Object Types: Partial, Required, Readonly, Pick, Omit, Record

interface Config {
  host: string;
  port?: number;
  debug?: boolean;
}

const defaults: Required<Omit<Config, "host">> = { port: 8080, debug: false };

function withDefaults(config: Config): Readonly<Required<Config>> {
  return { ...defaults, ...config };
}

const cfg = withDefaults({ host: "localhost", debug: true });
console.log(cfg); // { port: 8080, debug: true, host: 'localhost' }
// cfg.port = 1 would be error TS2540: Cannot assign to 'port' because it is a read-only property.

Required<T> is the opposite of Partial<T>; the Partial page covers both, including the explicit undefined that a spread like this one lets through.

Union Types: Exclude, Extract, NonNullable

type Status = "draft" | "review" | "published" | "archived";

type Live = Exclude<Status, "draft" | "archived">; // "review" | "published"
type Mixed = string | number | (() => void);
type Callable = Extract<Mixed, (...args: never[]) => unknown>; // () => void

function lookup(id: number): string | undefined {
  return id === 1 ? "Ada" : undefined;
}
type Found = NonNullable<ReturnType<typeof lookup>>; // string

const s: Live = "review";
const run: Callable = () => console.log("called");
const found: Found = lookup(1) ?? "nobody";
run();
console.log(s, found); // review Ada

These three operate on unions, not objects. That is the key difference from Pick and Omit, which take an object type and a list of its keys.

Function and Class Types: Parameters, ReturnType and More

function createOrder(customer: string, items: string[], express = false) {
  return { customer, items, express, total: items.length * 10 };
}

type OrderArgs = Parameters<typeof createOrder>; // [customer: string, items: string[], express?: boolean | undefined]
type Order = ReturnType<typeof createOrder>;     // { customer: string; items: string[]; express: boolean; total: number }

const args: OrderArgs = ["Ada", ["book", "pen"]];
const order: Order = createOrder(...args);
console.log(order.total, order.express); // 20 false

class Point {
  constructor(public x: number, public y: number) {}
}
const coords: ConstructorParameters<typeof Point> = [3, 4];
const p: InstanceType<typeof Point> = new Point(...coords);
console.log(p); // Point { x: 3, y: 4 }

typeof createOrder is needed because these utilities take a type, and createOrder is a value. The same goes for classes: typeof Point is the constructor type, while plain Point as a type already means the instance type.

NoInfer controls where a generic gets its type from:

function pickColor<C extends string>(colors: C[], fallback: NoInfer<C>): C {
  return colors[0] ?? fallback;
}

console.log(pickColor(["red", "green"], "green")); // red
// @ts-expect-error: "blue" is not "red" | "green"
pickColor(["red", "green"], "blue");

Without NoInfer, TypeScript would infer C from both arguments and widen it to "red" | "green" | "blue", so the typo in the fallback would be accepted.

String Types: Uppercase, Lowercase, Capitalize, Uncapitalize

These four are built into the compiler rather than written in TypeScript, and they are most useful inside template literal types, such as `on${Capitalize<E>}` for event handler names.

Promises: Awaited

async function fetchUser(id: number) {
  return { id, name: "Ada" };
}

type Pending = ReturnType<typeof fetchUser>;           // Promise<{ id: number; name: string }>
type User = Awaited<ReturnType<typeof fetchUser>>;      // { id: number; name: string }

async function main() {
  const user: User = await fetchUser(1);
  const all: User[] = await Promise.all([fetchUser(2), fetchUser(3)]);
  console.log(user.name, all.map((u) => u.id)); // Ada [ 2, 3 ]
}
main();

Awaited<ReturnType<typeof fn>> is the standard way to name the result type of an async function without declaring it separately.

Combining Utility Types

Utility types nest. A few combinations come up often enough to be worth knowing by heart:

interface Post {
  id: number;
  title: string;
  body: string;
  tags: string[];
}

// Create: everything except the server-generated id
type NewPost = Omit<Post, "id">;
// Update: id required, everything else optional
type PostUpdate = Pick<Post, "id"> & Partial<Omit<Post, "id">>;
// A lookup table of read-only summaries
type PostIndex = Record<number, Readonly<Pick<Post, "id" | "title">>>;

const created: NewPost = { title: "Hello", body: "...", tags: [] };
const update: PostUpdate = { id: 1, title: "Hello again" };
const index: PostIndex = { 2: { id: 2, title: "Idea" } };
console.log(created.title, update, index[2]);
// Hello { id: 1, title: 'Hello again' } { id: 2, title: 'Idea' }

Read a nested utility type from the inside out: Readonly<Pick<Post, "id" | "title">> first keeps two properties, then makes them read-only. The same parts build a PartialBy helper that makes only some keys optional; the Partial page writes it out.

Utility Types Do Nothing at Runtime

Every utility type is erased when the code compiles. A value typed Omit<User, "password"> can still carry a password at runtime if the object it came from had one:

interface User {
  name: string;
  password: string;
}

const full: User = { name: "Ada", password: "hunter2" };

const leaky: Omit<User, "password"> = full; // allowed: extra properties are fine
console.log(JSON.stringify(leaky)); // {"name":"Ada","password":"hunter2"}

const { password, ...safe } = full;          // this actually removes it
console.log(JSON.stringify(safe));  // {"name":"Ada"}

The type only limits what your code is allowed to read. To remove a field from the data, destructure it away as in the last lines, and to stop mutation at runtime use Object.freeze, not Readonly. The built-in types are one-line mapped types and conditional types, so the same tools let you write your own.