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
#VityaSchel added the most important note for me:
https://stackoverflow.com/a/68035933/14678591
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 2023 this behavior is also present in Firefox and Edge. New tabs without any page history that invoke window.close() indeed close themselves.
This could be a comment but my reputation is not high enough.
Here's how you would create such a link:
close
I am facing a wired scenario in Firefox 4. When I close the tab window.onbeforeunload is getting called. But when user is closing the window by the cross bar it is not getting called.
Is that a bug in Firefox or there is some other thing I need to do . Please check my code.
$(document).ready(function(){
window.onbeforeunload = function(){signout()};
});
window.onbeforeunload = function(){signout()};
Even writing this code outside document.ready is also not working. The same code is working on chrome.
The scenario get's even wired when their are more than one tabs are opened and then user closes the window (not the tab) by cross bar. In this scenario , Firefox asks the user to confirm that he is closing two tabs and after that my code works !!!. This is quite surprising my code does not work only when my page is the only tab and the user closes the window.
There's a thread on it here:
window.onunload only fires when a tab is closed in firefox, not the entire browser
It looks like it was a feature around that time to prevent unscrupulous websites from preventing browser being fully closed. I wouldn't be surprised if this is still the case, but the only way to find out is to try on a more current version of Firefox.
This question already has answers here:
window.close and self.close do not close the window in Chrome
(17 answers)
Closed 6 years ago.
I want my web application to run in a window which has no menubar, addressbar etc. I have a Default.html page and in this page I click a "Run Application" button which first opens my application in another window using window.open and then closes the current window by opening "AutoClose.html" using window.open with _self parameter
Default.html
<html>
<head>
<script type="text/javascript">
function runApp() {
// Open my application
window.open('Application.html', null, 'status:no;dialogHide:true;help:no;scroll:yes;center=yes;');
// Close this window
window.open('AutoClose.html', '_self');
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
<input type="button" value="Run Application" onclick="runApp();" />
</body>
</html>
AutoClose.html
<html>
<head>
<script type="text/javascript">
window.close();
</script>
</head>
<body></body>
</html>
My application should support IE, Firefox and Chrome and my code works fine on IE and Chrome but it is unable to close the first window on Firefox because of "Scripts may not close windows that were not opened by script" warning. On Firefox it opens the AutoClose.html but window.close() call in this page just causes the "Scripts may not close windows that were not opened by script" warning and window is not closed. By the way my application window is opened without any issues (no problem about that).
It seems that using window.open() with _self parameter trick does not work for Firefox. Since my goal is to run the application in a window without menubar, addressbar etc.
Is there any way for hiding addressbar, menubar without using window.open() (at least for Firefox)? Then I will not need to run window.close()
Is there any setting to suppress "Scripts may not close windows that were not opened by script" warning on Firefox? An "Allow scripts to close windows that were not opened by script" setting would be great (:
Is there any way to make window.close() work for "windows that were not opened by script using javascript" on Firefox?
Or, is there any other suggestions (:
Thanks in advance.
UPDATE: This is a banking application and I am just a developer not the decision maker. In other words some kind of analyst wants the application work in this way. And I am not questioning it. So "the whole thing you are trying to do is completely wrong" answers will not be really helpful.
You can't close the current window in firefox because you didn't open it. It doesn't matter that you loaded AutoClose.html into it.
But this whole business with windows is pointless. Most people have their browser set to open new windows in a new tab, and you can't prevent the menubar etc in a tab window.
I, personally, would be very irritated if you closed my window just because I used your application.
It could be the only window the user has open - in which case you just closed their browser. It could be they want to press back, and closing the tab will annoy them.
This error from firefox is correct, and if it works in Chrome that's a serious bug and you should report it.
Simply,
open(location, '_self').close();
The basic problem is that what your requirements-setter wants you to do is explicitly blocked by Firefox:
There is no way to hide the UI in a user's existing browser window, because it's user-hostile and a favorite tool of phishers.
There is no way to close the user's existing window from script, losing all the user's session history in the process.
Basically, the user has other things in the browser than just your bank thing. So assuming otherwise is more or less doomed to failure.
Is there any way you can push back on the unreasonable requirements?
This worked for me.
I used it to close the window when clicking a button in jQuery UI Dialog.
open(location, '_self').close();
We have written a small javascript function which checks if a URL should open in same window or a popup. In cases when a url should open in a new window IE is giving some strange behaviour a window popup flashes and closes with a beep sound. Can anybody suggest whats going behind the scenes i do not think its my javascript which is wrong. Is it some browser weird behaviour.
I suspect you have a third party pop-up blocker installed.
Yep, this sounds like some third party stuff. By default IE will try to guess what it should do with popups (open in a popup window, open in a new tab, don't open at all) but it won't try to open a window and close it immediately (unless caused by some addons or code included in the page). JavaScript errors shouldn't cause the window to close either (unless they really call window.close()).