I want to create a link on a webpage that would close the currently active tab in a browser without closing other tabs in the browser. When the user clicks the close link, an alert message should appear asking the user to confirm with two buttons, "YES" and "NO". If the user clicks "YES", close that page and If "NO", do nothing.
How can it be done? Any suggestions?
You will need Javascript to do this. Use window.close():
close();
Note: the current tab is implied. This is equivalent:
window.close();
or you can specify a different window.
So:
function close_window() {
if (confirm("Close Window?")) {
close();
}
}
with HTML:
close
or:
close
You return false here to prevent the default behavior for the event. Otherwise the browser will attempt to go to that URL (which it obviously isn't).
Now the options on the window.confirm() dialog box will be OK and Cancel (not Yes and No). If you really want Yes and No you'll need to create some kind of modal Javascript dialog box.
Note: there is browser-specific differences with the above. If you opened the window with Javascript (via window.open()) then you are allowed to close the window with javascript. Firefox disallows you from closing other windows. I believe IE will ask the user for confirmation. Other browsers may vary.
Try this
close
This method works in Chrome and IE:
<a href="blablabla" onclick="setTimeout(function(){var ww = window.open(window.location, '_self'); ww.close(); }, 1000);">
If you click on this the window will be closed after 1000ms
</a>
As far as I can tell, it no longer is possible in Chrome or FireFox. It may still be possible in IE (at least pre-Edge).
Sorry for necroposting this, but I recently implemented a locally hosted site that had needed the ability to close the current browser tab and found some interesting workarounds that are not well documented anywhere I could find, so took it on myself to do so.
Note: These workarounds were done with a locally hosted site in mind, and (with the exception of Edge) require the browser to be specifically configured, so would not be ideal for publicly hosted sites.
Context:
In the past, the jQuery script window.close() was able to close the current tab without a problem on most browsers. However, most modern browsers no longer support this script, potentially for security reasons.
Current Functionality:
window.close() will work on tabs opened by a script, or by an anchor with target="_blank" (opened in a new tab)
See #killstreet's comment on #calios's answer
Browser Specific work-arounds:
Google Chrome:
Chrome does not allow the window.close() script to be to be run and nothing happens if you try to use it. By using the Chrome plugin TamperMonkey however we can use the window.close() method if you include the // #grant window.close in the UserScript header of TamperMonkey.
For example, my script (which is triggered when a button with id = 'close_page' is clicked and if 'yes' is pressed on the browser popup) looks like:
// ==UserScript==
// #name Close Tab Script
// #namespace http://tampermonkey.net/
// #version 1.0
// #description Closes current tab when triggered
// #author Mackey Johnstone
// #match http://localhost/index.php
// #grant window.close
// #require http://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.4.1.min.js
// ==/UserScript==
(function() {
'use strict';
$("#close_page").click(function() {
var confirm_result = confirm("Are you sure you want to quit?");
if (confirm_result == true) {
window.close();
}
});
})();
Note: This solution can only close the tab if it is NOT the last tab open however. So effectively, it cannot close the tab if it would cause window to closes by being the last tab open.
Firefox:
Firefox has an advanced setting that you can enable to allow scripts to close windows, effectively enabling the window.close() method. To enable this setting go to about:config then search and find the dom.allow_scripts_to_close_windows preference and switch it from false to true.
This allows you to use the window.close() method directly in your jQuery file as you would any other script.
For example, this script works perfectly with the preference set to true:
<script>
$("#close_page").click(function() {
var confirm_result = confirm("Are you sure you want to quit?");
if (confirm_result == true) {
window.close();
}
});
</script>
This works much better than the Chrome workaround as it allows the user to close the current tab even if it is the only tab open, and doesn't require a third party plugin. The one downside however is that it also enables this script to be run by different websites (not just the one you are intending it to use on) so could potentially be a security hazard, although I cant imagine closing the current tab being particularly dangerous.
Edge:
Disappointingly Edge actually performed the best out of all 3 browsers I tried, and worked with the window.close() method without requiring any configuration. When the window.close() script is run, an additional popup alerts you that the page is trying to close the current tab and asks if you want to continue.
Edit:
This was on the old version of Edge not based on chromium. I have not tested it, but imagine it will act similarly to Chrome on chromium based versions
Final Note: The solutions for both Chrome and Firefox are workarounds for something that the browsers intentionally disabled, potentially for security reasons. They also both require the user to configure their browsers up to be compatible before hand, so would likely not be viable for sites intended for public use, but are ideal for locally hosted solutions like mine.
It is possible. I searched the whole net for this, but once when i took one of microsoft's survey, I finally got the answer.
try this:
window.top.close();
this will close the current tab for you.
The following works for me in Chrome 41:
function leave() {
var myWindow = window.open("", "_self");
myWindow.document.write("");
setTimeout (function() {myWindow.close();},1000);
}
I've tried several ideas for FF including opening an actual web-page, but nothing seems to work. As far as I understand, any browser will close a tab or window with xxx.close() if it was really opened by JS, but FF, at least, cannot be duped into closing a tab by opening new content inside that tab.
That makes sense when you think about it - a user may well not want JS closing a tab or window that has useful history.
Try this as well. Working for me on all three major browsers.
<!-- saved from url=(0014)about:internet -->
<a href="#" onclick="javascript:window.close();opener.window.focus();" >Close Window</a>
window.close() doesn't work in 2k21 because Scripts may close only the windows that were opened by them.
BUT if the tab is opened in the browser not manually, but automatically - then window.close() works.
Automatically (when close() works):
<a href="/close" target="_blank"> the browser will open address in the new tab and this tab can be closed with close()
when new browser tab is opened from another application (when you click a link in Telegram/Whatsup/Outlook etc) - OS will open new tab and it can be closed with close()
when you open the with window.open('ya.ru') - for sure it can be closed with close()
Manually (when it doesn't work):
when you open fresh browser and type in the address.
when you click (+) to open new tab and type in the address
Tested successfully in FF 18 and Chrome 24:
Insert in head:
<script>
function closeWindow() {
window.open('','_parent','');
window.close();
}
</script>
HTML:
Close Window
Credits go to Marcos J. Drake.
As for the people who are still visiting this page, you are only allowed to close a tab that is opened by a script OR by using the anchor tag of HTML with target _blank. Both those can be closed using the
<script>
window.close();
</script>
<button class="closeButton" style="cursor: pointer" onclick="window.close();">Close Window</button>
this did the work for me
a bit late but this is what i found out...
window.close() will only work (IE is an exception) if the window that you are trying to close() was opened by a script using window.open() method.
!(please see the comment of #killstreet below about anchor tag with target _blank)
TLDR: chrome & firefox allow to close them.
you will get console error:
Scripts may not close windows that were not opened by script.
as an error and nothing else.
you could add a unique parameter in the URL to know if the page was opened from a script (like time) - but its just a hack and not a native functionality and will fail in some cases.
i couldn't find any way to know if the page was opened from a open() or not,
and close will not throw and errors.
this will NOT print "test":
try{
window.close();
}
catch (e){
console.log("text");
}
you can read in MDN more about the close() function
It is guaranteed that the closing of tabs will not be tolerated in any future browsers. Using scripts like mentioned above will not work.
My solution was to use a Chrome Extension. A Chrome Extension can require tab manipulation permissions so it will be easy to handle the closing of any tab from the domain in which the extension's content script is active.
This is how the background script should look like:
chrome.runtime.onMessage.addListener(function(message, sender, sendResponse) {
console.log(sender)
console.log(message)
if(message.closeThis) {
closeTab(sender.tab.id)
}
});
const closeTab = id => {
console.log("Closing tab");
chrome.tabs.remove(id);
}
The content script should look like this:
window.addEventListener("message", (event) => {
// Only accept messages from ourselves
if (event.source !== window)
return;
if (event.data.type && (event.data.type === "APPLICATION/CLOSE")) {
console.log("Content script received APPLICATION/CLOSE event");
chrome.runtime.sendMessage({closeThis: true});
}
}, false);
Close the tab by calling this in your application (make sure the content scripts are enabled in your domain by specifying that in the manifest):
window.postMessage({ type: "APPLICATION/CLOSE" }, "*");
Be cautious when using this because Chrome Extensions' deployment can be a pain.
I just wanted to add that window.close() works in 2021, chrome 91, but not always. One of the cases when it works if there is no history in tab (you can't go back).
In my case I wanted to create self-destructing tab which closes after few seconds, but I was struggling with how to go to development server avoiding new tab, because apparently New tab is also tab and it is being saved in tab history :D I created link in about:blank tab with target=_blank attribute and it was leading to new tab where window.close() method finally worked!
This is one way of solving the same, declare a JavaScript function like this
<script>
function Exit() {
var x=confirm('Are You sure want to exit:');
if(x) window.close();
}
</script>
Add the following line to the HTML to call the function using a <button>
<button name='closeIt' onClick="Exit()" >Click to exit </Button>
You can try this solution to trick the browser to close the current window using JavaScript + HTML:
JS:
function closeWindow() {
if(window.confirm('Are you sure?')) {
window.alert('Closing window')
window.open('', '_self')
window.close()
}
else {
alert('Cancelled!')
}
}
HTML:
Some content
<button onclick='closeWindow()'>Close Current Window!</button>
More content
Due to strict browser behaviors, window.close() will only work if it's opened by window.open(...)
But I made a solution for this!
Add an empty hashtag with window.open(...) when it is NOT included
When the perfect time for closing occurs, call window.close
If 2. has returned an error, replace any hashtag or HTTP parameters with an empty hashtag and finally close the window
<button onclick="myFunction()">Close</button>
<script>
if (location.href.indexOf("#") == -1) {
window.open(location.href + "#", "_self")
}
function myFunction() {
try {
window.close()
} catch (err) {
window.open(location.href.substring(0, location.href.indexOf("?")).substring(0, location.href.indexOf("#")) + "#", "_self")
window.close()
}
}
</script>
Type close in this live demo
Here's how you would create such a link:
close
Hello StackOverflow community!
I've encountered a very weird problem and couldn't find any useful information on how to solve it.
Somehow, a piece of javascript code works only when the dev tools window is opened (docked or as a separate window) in google chrome.
The original problem: Due to our application structure, we need to open multiple popups automatically when a page is served. Since the popups are NOT opened through a direct user interaction (like onclick), modern browsers would automatically block these popups. Because of the large amount of code that would need to be refactored to avoid this, our solution was:
check if the browser is blocking some popups.
if so: inform the user about this and suggest to turn off their browser's popup blocking function for
our website (by adding it to the exception list for example).
Not a very elegant solution I know, but there was no other way so please don't comment on how to do this differently.
The javascript code:
let popupBlockingErrorShown = false;
this.OpenWindow = function (url, name, args) {
var i = Popups.length; //Popups is an array defined as a global variable that keeps track of all
//opened popup windows
Popups[i] = window.open(url, name, args);
try {
Popups[i].focus();
} catch (e) {
if (!popupBlockingErrorShown) {
alert("very user friendly message explaining to turn of popup blocking");
popupBlockingErrorShown = true;
}
};
}
The windows have to be popups. The popupBlockingErrorShown variable is to prevent having an alert message for each popup.
Works fine in firefox. But in google chrome there is this behaviour:
without dev tools open: the first popup opens normally, the others are blocked, there is no alert message.
with dev tools open: the first popup opens but gets 'stuck' on loading (it's an empty page). The alert message shows normally.
Keeping the browser-window open and simply switching between dev tools opened or closed gives the same behaviour.
Anyone can help me? Much appreciated!
This is my first stackoverflow question and I'm still very new to programming, I have a bit over a year of experience. Remarks on my 'asking questions'-skills are welcome.
Ok thanks to wOxxOm's comment I've found a workaround. So the problem was related to what window was focused on. I've added a piece of code in the catch-block to show an alert on a successfully opened popup (if there is one) :
try {
Popups[i].focus();
} catch (e) {
if (!popupBlockingErrorShown) {
if (Popups[i - 1]) { //there is a previous popup and it's been focused on.
Popups[i - 1].alert(UIMessages[33]); //show alert on opened popup.
popupBlockingErrorShown = true;
}
else {
alert(UIMessages[33]);
popupBlockingErrorShown = true;
}
}
}
Thanks #wOxxOm !
I wrote a Web Extension which starts surfing specified websites automatically (to simulate/train user profiles by "collecting" website cookies) after the Chrome browser is opened.
I know that you can disable the popup by whitelisting it for your own Web Extension:
Disable developer mode extensions pop up in Chrome
But: My Web Extension has to run automatically on 8-16 virtual machines on Linux without a GUI and i don't know whether it is possible and how to do it.
My Extension opens the first URL as expected, but then the popup comes into play and stops further surfing. If i open another tab per hand it continues to work, but opening a tab via Javascript doesn't do the trick. My code usually doesn't have to handle multiple tabs, because everything is done with one tab. Maybe i'm executing the code at the wrong time. The code works perfectly, when the popup doesn't come.
My code without tab opening:
background.js
var shouldMessageBeSent = true;
chrome.windows.onCreated.addListener(function() {
chrome.tabs.update({url:"https://stackoverflow.com/"}); // placeholder URL
});
chrome.webNavigation.onCompleted.addListener(function() {
if (shouldMessageBeSent == true) {
chrome.tabs.query({"currentWindow": true}, function(tabs) {
shouldMessageBeSent = false;
chrome.tabs.sendMessage(tabs[0].id, {txt: "newURLvisited"}, function(response) {});
});
}
});
chrome.runtime.onMessage.addListener(gotMessage);
function gotMessage(message) {
if (Array.isArray(message)) { // It's an array in my code
linksToVisit = message;
}
visitLinks(linksToVisit); // visits all the given links (the links are filtered in my code)
}
Content.js (highly simplified)
chrome.runtime.onMessage.addListener(gotMessage);
function gotMessage(message) {
if (message.txt === "newURLvisited") {
var allLinks = document.getElementsByTagName("a");
chrome.runtime.sendMessage(allLinks);
}
}
Any ideas what to fix? It may have to do something with active window/tab focus.
Apparently you can install a policy for Chrome, provided as a template from Google, which you can edit to your taste before that; I suppose you can do a similar thing on Mac and Linux just in a JSON editor.
I have the following code to introduce my Chrome Extension.
// detect if this is the first time running
var first_run = false;
if (!localStorage['ran_before']) {
first_run = true;
localStorage['ran_before'] = '1';
}
// if not, start the intro() script
if (first_run) intro();
// intro script
function intro() {
window.open("intro/index.html", '_blank');
}
But sadly, when I click the extension, it doesn't open the popup.html but just opens the intro page.. it needs to keep the popup.html open and I'm sure there is a way to do this. I want to open them both at the same time.
What is the best way to do this?
the method you are using is valid and should work, but you should probably
just use the onInstalled event for consistency:
chrome.runtime.onInstalled.addListener(function(info){
if(info.reason == "install"){
console.log("Installed!");
}else if(info.reason == "update"){
console.log("Updated!");
}
});
It doesn't require new permissions, and will keep your install code clearly separated from the rest of your code.
While Marc Guiselin's answer is excellent, it may be useful to know how to open a tab without closing a popup.
You could open the tab in the background, that way it won't close your popup.
chrome.tabs.create({
url: chrome.runtime.getURL("intro/index.html"),
active: false
});
In general, you should avoid using window.open in extensions and use chrome.tabs and chrome.windows API instead.
I use window.open to populate a new window with varying content. Mostly reports and stored HTML from automated processes.
I have noticed some very inconsistent behavior with Chrome with respect to window.open().
Some of my calls will create a new tab (preferred behavior) and some cause popups.
var w = window.open('','_new');
w.document.write(page_content);
page_content is just regular HTML from AJAX calls. Reports contain some information in the header like title, favicon, and some style sheets.
In IE9 the code does cause a new tab instead of a pop-up, while Chrome flatly refuses to show the content in question in a new tab. Since the content is sensitive business data I cannot post it here. I'll answer questions if I can.
I know some people will say this is behavior left up to the user, but this is an internal business platform. We don't have time to train all the users on how to manage popups, and we just need it to be in a new tab. Heck, even a new window would be preferable to the popup since you cannot dock a popup in Chrome. Not to mention none of the popup blocking code would affect it.
Appreciate any insight.
window.open must be called within a callback which is triggered by a user action (example onclick) for the page to open in a new tab instead of a window.
Example:
$("a.runReport").click(function(evt) {
// open a popup within the click handler
// this should open in a new tab
var popup = window.open("about:blank", "myPopup");
//do some ajax calls
$.get("/run/the/report", function(result) {
// now write to the popup
popup.document.write(result.page_content);
// or change the location
// popup.location = 'someOtherPage.html';
});
});
You can try this:
open a new tab please
<script>
function openWindow(){
var w = window.open("about:blank");
w.document.write("heheh new page opened");
}
</script>
Is very easy, in order to force Chrome to open in a new tab, use the onmouseup event
onmouseup="switchMenu(event);"
I have tried this and it worked fine in chrome. If opening a new tab is on a user action(such as a mouse click) this will work fine without any issues. But if the code is executed in another script block, you may need to enable pop-ups in chrome. Looks like this is to handle all the click-bait sites.
let newTab = window.open('', '_blank');
if (this.viewerTab == null) {
console.log("opening in new tab to work, pop-ups should be enabled.");
return;
}
................
newTab.location.href = viewerUrl;
window.open('page.html', '_newtab');
Specify the '_newtab'. This works in IE and FF, and should work in Chrome. But if the user has things configured to not open in new tab then not much you can do.