History

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2015.

The History interface of the History API allows manipulation of the browser session history, that is the pages visited in the tab or frame that the current page is loaded in.

There is only one instance of history (It is a singleton.) accessible via the global object history.

Note: This interface is only available on the main thread (Window). It cannot be accessed in Worker or Worklet contexts.

Instance properties

The History interface doesn't inherit any property.

length Read only

Returns an Integer representing the number of elements in the session history, including the currently loaded page. For example, for a page loaded in a new tab this property returns 1.

scrollRestoration

Allows web applications to explicitly set default scroll restoration behavior on history navigation. This property can be either auto or manual.

state Read only

Returns an any value representing the state at the top of the history stack. This is a way to look at the state without having to wait for a popstate event.

Instance methods

The History interface doesn't inherit any methods.

back()

This asynchronous method goes to the previous page in session history, the same action as when the user clicks the browser's Back button. Equivalent to history.go(-1).

Calling this method to go back beyond the first page in the session history has no effect and doesn't raise an exception.

forward()

This asynchronous method goes to the next page in session history, the same action as when the user clicks the browser's Forward button; this is equivalent to history.go(1).

Calling this method to go forward beyond the most recent page in the session history has no effect and doesn't raise an exception.

go()

Asynchronously loads a page from the session history, identified by its relative location to the current page, for example -1 for the previous page or 1 for the next page. If you specify an out-of-bounds value (for instance, specifying -1 when there are no previously-visited pages in the session history), this method silently has no effect. Calling go() without parameters or a value of 0 reloads the current page.

pushState()

Pushes the given data onto the session history stack with the specified title (and, if provided, URL). The data is treated as opaque by the DOM; you may specify any JavaScript object that can be serialized. Note that all browsers but Safari currently ignore the title parameter. For more information, see Working with the History API.

replaceState()

Updates the most recent entry on the history stack to have the specified data, title, and, if provided, URL. The data is treated as opaque by the DOM; you may specify any JavaScript object that can be serialized. Note that all browsers but Safari currently ignore the title parameter. For more information, see Working with the History API.

Specifications

Specification
HTML Standard
# the-history-interface

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also