--- title: Typescript - Tips & Tricks - any vs. unknown | daily.dev description: A short guide explaining the difference between TypeScript's `any` and `unknown` types. `any` disables compiler checks entirely, allowing runtime bugs to slip... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/typescript---tips-tricks---any-vs-unknown-ebkpv9vbz twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Typescript - Tips & Tricks - any vs. unknown | daily.dev og:description: A short guide explaining the difference between TypeScript's `any` and `unknown` types. `any` disables compiler checks entirely, allowing runtime bugs to slip... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/typescript---tips-tricks---any-vs-unknown-ebkpv9vbz og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/EbKpv9Vbz.png og:image:alt: Typescript - Tips & Tricks - any vs. unknown og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Typescript - Tips & Tricks - any vs. unknown **[Playful Programming](https://daily.dev/sources/playfulprogramming)** · [@puppo](https://daily.dev/puppo) · 2 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A short guide explaining the difference between TypeScript's `any` and `unknown` types. `any` disables compiler checks entirely, allowing runtime bugs to slip through undetected. `unknown` is safer: it requires explicit type narrowing (e.g., `typeof` checks) before the value can be used, catching potential bugs at compile time rather than at runtime. Code examples illustrate how `unknown` prevents unsafe property access and invalid assignments that `any` would silently allow. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Stop drifting around in the dark when using "any" and "unknown" TypeScript types](https://daily.dev/posts/stop-drifting-around-in-the-dark-when-using-any-and-unknown-typescript-types-89bkfo9pv) · This is Learning · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#webdev](https://daily.dev/tags/webdev), [#typescript](https://daily.dev/tags/typescript) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/typescript---tips-tricks---any-vs-unknown-ebkpv9vbz) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Typescript - Tips & Tricks - any vs. unknown","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/typescript---tips-tricks---any-vs-unknown-ebkpv9vbz","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/typescript---tips-tricks---any-vs-unknown-ebkpv9vbz"},"datePublished":"2026-03-16T21:46:32.792Z","dateModified":"2026-03-17T18:00:34.275Z","description":"A short guide explaining the difference between TypeScript's `any` and `unknown` types. `any` disables compiler checks entirely, allowing runtime bugs to slip...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/a576c1b90538e729fa64142a07e5107e?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/a576c1b90538e729fa64142a07e5107e?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Playful Programming","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Luca Del Puppo","url":"https://daily.dev/puppo","image":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/2527849?v=4","interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"EndorseAction"},"userInteractionCount":980}},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/typescript---tips-tricks---any-vs-unknown-ebkpv9vbz","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"webdev,typescript","timeRequired":"PT2M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Playful Programming","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/playfulprogramming"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Typescript - Tips & Tricks - any vs. unknown"}]} ```