Lodash _.pick() Method

What You’ll Learn

By the end of this tutorial, you’ll use _.pick() to extract only the properties you need from JavaScript objects.

What Is _.pick()?

_.pick() is Lodash’s allow-list helper. You pass an object and the property names you want; Lodash returns a new object containing only those keys. It is the mirror image of _.omit(), which removes named keys instead of keeping them.

Use _.pick() when you know exactly which fields belong in a DTO, table row, or API payload—especially when an allow-list is safer than trying to remember every secret field to omit.

📝 Syntax

The signature mirrors _.omit()—only the selection logic is inverted:

_.pick(object, [paths])

Syntax Rules

• object — the source object to copy from (not mutated).
• paths — one or more property names to include (strings or an array of strings).
• Return value — a new plain object with only the picked keys that exist on the source.
• Missing keys — if a named key is absent, it is skipped silently (no error).
• Shallow only — top-level keys; nested paths like address.city are not supported.

import pick from "lodash/pick";

const user = {
  name: "John Doe",
  age: 30,
  email: "john@example.com",
  isAdmin: true
};

const contact = pick(user, ["name", "email"]);
// -> { name: "John Doe", email: "john@example.com" }

Examples Gallery

Practical _.pick() patterns with sample output and interactive Try It Yourself labs.

const user = {
  name: "John Doe",
  age: 30,
  email: "john@example.com",
  isAdmin: true
};

const contact = _.pick(user, ["name", "email"]);

console.log(contact);
// -> { name: "John Doe", email: "john@example.com" }

console.log(user.isAdmin);
// still true — original unchanged

contact: { name: "John Doe", email: "john@example.com" }
user.isAdmin: true

const user = {
  name: "Bob",
  age: 30
};

const partial = _.pick(user, ["name", "email"]);

console.log(partial);
// -> { name: "Bob" }

{ name: "Bob" }

const PUBLIC_USER_FIELDS = ["id", "name", "email"];

app.get("/user/:id", (req, res) => {
  const user = fetchUserFromDb(req.params.id);
  res.json(_.pick(user, PUBLIC_USER_FIELDS));
});

{ "id": "123", "name": "John Doe", "email": "john@example.com" }

const rawApiResponse = {
  status: "success",
  data: {
    id: "456",
    name: "Jane Doe",
    email: "jane@example.com",
    internalToken: "secret"
  }
};

const transformed = {
  status: rawApiResponse.status,
  user: _.pick(rawApiResponse.data, ["id", "name", "email"])
};

// -> {
//      status: "success",
//      user: { id: "456", name: "Jane Doe", email: "jane@example.com" }
//    }

{
  status: "success",
  user: { id: "456", name: "Jane Doe", email: "jane@example.com" }
}

const formState = {
  title: "My post",
  body: "Hello world",
  isDirty: true,
  errors: {},
  lastSavedAt: "2026-07-06T09:00:00Z"
};

const payload = _.pick(formState, ["title", "body"]);
// -> { title: "My post", body: "Hello world" }

{ title: "My post", body: "Hello world" }

const user = {
  name: "Alice",
  age: 25,
  email: "alice@example.com",
  isAdmin: false
};

const { name, email } = user;
const contact = { name, email };
// same as _.pick(user, ["name", "email"])

{ name: "Alice", email: "alice@example.com" }

📝 Notes

• _.pick() is non-mutating—assign the result to a new variable.
• Only top-level keys are selected; nested paths require separate handling.
• Nested values inside picked keys are shallow-copied (shared references).
• Missing keys in the pick list produce no error and no property in the result.
• Symbol-keyed and inherited properties are not picked by name.
• For conditional selection, use _.pickBy() instead.

💡 Best Practices