The DOM Window object provides access to the browser's session history (not to be confused for WebExtensions history) through the history object. It exposes useful methods and properties that let you navigate back and forth through the user's history, and manipulate the contents of the history stack.

Concepts and usage

Moving backward and forward through the user's history is done using the back() , forward() , and go() methods.

Moving forward and backward

To move backward through history:

window.history.back()

This acts exactly as if the user clicked on the Back button in their browser toolbar.

Similarly, you can move forward (as if the user clicked the Forward button), like this:

window.history.forward()

Moving to a specific point in history

You can use the go() method to load a specific page from session history, identified by its relative position to the current page. (The current page's relative position is 0 .)

To move back one page (the equivalent of calling back() ):

window.history.go(-1)

To move forward a page, just like calling forward() :

window.history.go(1)

Similarly, you can move forward 2 pages by passing 2 , and so forth.

Another use for the go() method is to refresh the current page by either passing 0 , or by invoking it without an argument:

// The following statements // both have the effect of // refreshing the page window.history.go(0) window.history.go()

You can determine the number of pages in the history stack by looking at the value of the length property:

let numberOfEntries = window.history.length

Interfaces

History Allows manipulation of the browser session history (that is, the pages visited in the tab or frame that the current page is loaded in).

Examples

The following example assigns a listener to the onpopstate property. And then illustrates some of the methods of the history object to add, replace, and move within the browser history for the current tab.

window.onpopstate = function(event) { alert(`location: ${document.location}, state: ${JSON.stringify(event.state)}`) } history.pushState({page: 1}, "title 1", "?page=1") history.pushState({page: 2}, "title 2", "?page=2") history.replaceState({page: 3}, "title 3", "?page=3") history.back() // alerts "location: http://example.com/example.html?page=1, state: {"page":1}" history.back() // alerts "location: http://example.com/example.html, state: null" history.go(2) // alerts "location: http://example.com/example.html?page=3, state: {"page":3}"

Specifications

Browser compatibility

The compatibility table on this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.

Update compatibility data on GitHub Desktop Mobile Chrome Edge Firefox Internet Explorer Opera Safari Android webview Chrome for Android Firefox for Android Opera for Android Safari on iOS Samsung Internet History Chrome Full support 1 Edge Full support 12 Firefox Full support 1 IE Full support 10 Opera Full support 3 Safari Full support 1 WebView Android Full support 1 Chrome Android Full support 18 Firefox Android Full support 4 Opera Android Full support 10.1 Safari iOS Full support 1 Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0 back Chrome Full support Yes Edge Full support 12 Firefox Full support Yes IE Full support 10 Opera Full support Yes Safari Full support Yes WebView Android Full support Yes Chrome Android Full support Yes Firefox Android Full support Yes Opera Android Full support Yes Safari iOS Full support Yes Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes forward Chrome Full support Yes Edge Full support 12 Firefox Full support Yes IE Full support 10 Opera Full support Yes Safari Full support Yes WebView Android Full support Yes Chrome Android Full support Yes Firefox Android Full support Yes Opera Android Full support Yes Safari iOS Full support Yes Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes go Chrome Full support Yes Edge Full support 12 Firefox Full support Yes IE Full support 10 Opera Full support Yes Safari Full support Yes WebView Android Full support Yes Chrome Android Full support Yes Firefox Android Full support Yes Opera Android Full support Yes Safari iOS Full support Yes Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes length Chrome Full support Yes Edge Full support 12 Firefox Full support Yes IE Full support 10 Opera Full support Yes Safari Full support Yes WebView Android Full support Yes Chrome Android Full support Yes Firefox Android Full support Yes Opera Android Full support Yes Safari iOS Full support Yes Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes pushState Chrome Full support 5 Edge Full support 12 Firefox Full support 4 Notes Full support 4 Notes Notes Until Firefox 5, the passed object is serialized using JSON. Starting in Firefox 6, the object is serialized using the structured clone algorithm. This allows a wider variety of objects to be safely passed. IE Full support 10 Opera Full support 11.5 Safari Full support 5 WebView Android Full support ≤37 Chrome Android Full support 18 Firefox Android Full support 4 Notes Full support 4 Notes Notes Until Firefox 5, the passed object is serialized using JSON. Starting in Firefox 6, the object is serialized using the structured clone algorithm. This allows a wider variety of objects to be safely passed. Opera Android Full support 11.5 Safari iOS Full support 4.3 Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0 replaceState Chrome Full support 5 Edge Full support 12 Firefox Full support 4 Notes Full support 4 Notes Notes Until Firefox 5, the passed object is serialized using JSON. Starting in Firefox 6, the object is serialized using the structured clone algorithm. This allows a wider variety of objects to be safely passed. IE Full support 10 Opera Full support 11.5 Safari Full support 5 WebView Android Full support ≤37 Chrome Android Full support 18 Firefox Android Full support 4 Notes Full support 4 Notes Notes Until Firefox 5, the passed object is serialized using JSON. Starting in Firefox 6, the object is serialized using the structured clone algorithm. This allows a wider variety of objects to be safely passed. Opera Android Full support 11.5 Safari iOS Full support 4.3 Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0 scrollRestoration Chrome Full support 46 Edge Full support 79 Firefox Full support 46 IE No support No Opera Full support 33 Safari Full support Yes WebView Android No support No Chrome Android Full support 46 Firefox Android Full support Yes Opera Android Full support Yes Safari iOS Full support Yes Samsung Internet Android Full support 5.0 state Chrome Full support Yes Edge Full support 12 Firefox Full support Yes IE Full support 10 Opera Full support Yes Safari Full support Yes WebView Android Full support Yes Chrome Android Full support Yes Firefox Android Full support Yes Opera Android Full support Yes Safari iOS Full support Yes Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes Legend Full support Full support No support No support See implementation notes. See implementation notes.

See also

References

Guides