[javascript] How to Detect Browser Back Button event - Cross Browser

How do you definitively detect whether or not the user has pressed the back button in the browser?

How do you enforce the use of an in-page back button inside a single page web application using a #URL system?

Why on earth don't browser back buttons fire their own events!?

The answer is


Browser: https://jsfiddle.net/Limitlessisa/axt1Lqoz/

For mobile control: https://jsfiddle.net/Limitlessisa/axt1Lqoz/show/

_x000D_
_x000D_
$(document).ready(function() {_x000D_
  $('body').on('click touch', '#share', function(e) {_x000D_
    $('.share').fadeIn();_x000D_
  });_x000D_
});_x000D_
_x000D_
// geri butonunu yakalama_x000D_
window.onhashchange = function(e) {_x000D_
  var oldURL = e.oldURL.split('#')[1];_x000D_
  var newURL = e.newURL.split('#')[1];_x000D_
_x000D_
  if (oldURL == 'share') {_x000D_
    $('.share').fadeOut();_x000D_
    e.preventDefault();_x000D_
    return false;_x000D_
  }_x000D_
  //console.log('old:'+oldURL+' new:'+newURL);_x000D_
}
_x000D_
.share{position:fixed; display:none; top:0; left:0; width:100%; height:100%; background:rgba(0,0,0,.8); color:white; padding:20px;
_x000D_
<!DOCTYPE html>_x000D_
<html>_x000D_
_x000D_
<head>_x000D_
    <title>Back Button Example</title>_x000D_
    <script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>_x000D_
_x000D_
</head>_x000D_
_x000D_
<body style="text-align:center; padding:0;">_x000D_
    <a href="#share" id="share">Share</a>_x000D_
    <div class="share" style="">_x000D_
        <h1>Test Page</h1>_x000D_
        <p> Back button press please for control.</p>_x000D_
    </div>_x000D_
</body>_x000D_
_x000D_
</html>
_x000D_
_x000D_
_x000D_


 <input style="display:none" id="__pageLoaded" value=""/>


 $(document).ready(function () {
        if ($("#__pageLoaded").val() != 1) {

            $("#__pageLoaded").val(1);


        } else {
            shared.isBackLoad = true;
            $("#__pageLoaded").val(1);  

            // Call any function that handles your back event

        }
    });

The above code worked for me. On mobile browsers, when the user clicked on the back button, we wanted to restore the page state as per his previous visit.


I was able to use some of the answers in this thread and others to get it working in IE and Chrome/Edge. history.pushState for me wasn't supported in IE11.

if (history.pushState) {
    //Chrome and modern browsers
    history.pushState(null, document.title, location.href);
    window.addEventListener('popstate', function (event) {
        history.pushState(null, document.title, location.href);
    });
}
else {
    //IE
    history.forward();
}

This will definitely work (For detecting back button click)

$(window).on('popstate', function(event) {
 alert("pop");
});

I tried the above options but none of them is working for me. Here is the solution

if(window.event)
   {
        if(window.event.clientX < 40 && window.event.clientY < 0)
        {
            alert("Browser back button is clicked...");
        }
        else
        {
            alert("Browser refresh button is clicked...");
        }
    }

Refer this link http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/696526/Solution-to-Browser-Back-Button-Click-Event-Handli for more details


I solved it by keeping track of the original event that triggered the hashchange (be it a swipe, a click or a wheel), so that the event wouldn't be mistaken for a simple landing-on-page, and using an additional flag in each of my event bindings. The browser won't set the flag again to false when hitting the back button:

var evt = null,
canGoBackToThePast = true;

$('#next-slide').on('click touch', function(e) {
    evt = e;
    canGobackToThePast = false;
    // your logic (remember to set the 'canGoBackToThePast' flag back to 'true' at the end of it)
}

if (window.performance && window.performance.navigation.type == window.performance.navigation.TYPE_BACK_FORWARD) {
  alert('hello world');
}

This is the only one solution that worked for me (it's not a onepage website). It's working with Chrome, Firefox and Safari.


See this:

history.pushState(null, null, location.href);
    window.onpopstate = function () {
        history.go(1);
    };

it works fine...


In javascript, navigation type 2 means browser's back or forward button clicked and the browser is actually taking content from cache.

if(performance.navigation.type == 2)
{
    //Do your code here
}

Correct answer is already there to answer the question. I want to mention new JavaScript API PerformanceNavigationTiming, it's replacing deprecated performance.navigation.

Following code will log in console "back_forward" if user landed on your page using back or forward button. Take a look at compatibility table before using it in your project.

var perfEntries = performance.getEntriesByType("navigation");
for (var i = 0; i < perfEntries.length; i++) {
    console.log(perfEntries[i].type);
}

Here's my take at it. The assumption is, when the URL changes but there has no click within the document detected, it's a browser back (yes, or forward). A users click is reset after 2 seconds to make this work on pages that load content via Ajax:

(function(window, $) {
  var anyClick, consoleLog, debug, delay;
  delay = function(sec, func) {
    return setTimeout(func, sec * 1000);
  };
  debug = true;
  anyClick = false;
  consoleLog = function(type, message) {
    if (debug) {
      return console[type](message);
    }
  };
  $(window.document).click(function() {
    anyClick = true;
    consoleLog("info", "clicked");
    return delay(2, function() {
      consoleLog("info", "reset click state");
      return anyClick = false;
    });
  });
  return window.addEventListener("popstate", function(e) {
    if (anyClick !== true) {
      consoleLog("info", "Back clicked");
      return window.dataLayer.push({
        event: 'analyticsEvent',
        eventCategory: 'test',
        eventAction: 'test'
      });
    }
  });
})(window, jQuery);

The document.mouseover does not work for IE and FireFox. However I have tried this :

$(document).ready(function () {
  setInterval(function () {
    var $sample = $("body");
    if ($sample.is(":hover")) {
      window.innerDocClick = true;
    } else {
      window.innerDocClick = false;
    }
  });

});

window.onhashchange = function () {
  if (window.innerDocClick) {
    //Your own in-page mechanism triggered the hash change
  } else {
    //Browser back or forward button was pressed
  }
};

This works for Chrome and IE and not FireFox. Still working to get FireFox right. Any easy way on detecting Browser back/forward button click are welcome, not particularly in JQuery but also AngularJS or plain Javascript.


My variant:

const inFromBack = performance && performance.getEntriesByType( 'navigation' ).map( nav => nav.type ).includes( 'back_forward' )

A full-fledged component can be implemented only if you redefine the API (change the methods of object ' history ') I will share the class just written. Tested on Chrome and Mozilla Support only HTML5 and ECMAScript5-6

class HistoryNavigation {
    static init()
    {
        if(HistoryNavigation.is_init===true){
            return;
        }
        HistoryNavigation.is_init=true;

        let history_stack=[];
        let n=0;
        let  current_state={timestamp:Date.now()+n};
        n++;
        let init_HNState;
        if(history.state!==null){
            current_state=history.state.HNState;
            history_stack=history.state.HNState.history_stack;
            init_HNState=history.state.HNState;
        } else {
            init_HNState={timestamp:current_state.timestamp,history_stack};
        }
        let listenerPushState=function(params){
            params=Object.assign({state:null},params);
            params.state=params.state!==null?Object.assign({},params.state):{};
            let h_state={ timestamp:Date.now()+n};
            n++;
            let key = history_stack.indexOf(current_state.timestamp);
            key=key+1;
            history_stack.splice(key);
            history_stack.push(h_state.timestamp);
            h_state.history_stack=history_stack;
            params.state.HNState=h_state;
            current_state=h_state;
            return params;
        };
        let listenerReplaceState=function(params){
            params=Object.assign({state:null},params);
            params.state=params.state!==null?Object.assign({},params.state):null;
            let h_state=Object.assign({},current_state);
            h_state.history_stack=history_stack;
            params.state.HNState=h_state;
            return params;
        };
        let desc=Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptors(History.prototype);
        delete desc.constructor;
        Object.defineProperties(History.prototype,{

            replaceState:Object.assign({},desc.replaceState,{
                value:function(state,title,url){
                    let params={state,title,url};
                    HistoryNavigation.dispatchEvent('history.state.replace',params);
                    params=Object.assign({state,title,url},params);
                    params=listenerReplaceState(params);
                    desc.replaceState.value.call(this,params.state,params.title,params.url);
                }
            }),
            pushState:Object.assign({},desc.pushState,{
                value:function(state,title,url){
                    let params={state,title,url};
                    HistoryNavigation.dispatchEvent('history.state.push',params);
                    params=Object.assign({state,title,url},params);
                    params=listenerPushState(params);
                    return desc.pushState.value.call(this, params.state, params.title, params.url);
                }
            })
        });
        HistoryNavigation.addEventListener('popstate',function(event){
            let HNState;
            if(event.state==null){
                HNState=init_HNState;
            } else {
                HNState=event.state.HNState;
            }
            let key_prev=history_stack.indexOf(current_state.timestamp);
            let key_state=history_stack.indexOf(HNState.timestamp);
            let delta=key_state-key_prev;
            let params={delta,event,state:Object.assign({},event.state)};
            delete params.state.HNState;
            HNState.history_stack=history_stack;
            if(event.state!==null){
                event.state.HNState=HNState;
            }
            current_state=HNState;
            HistoryNavigation.dispatchEvent('history.go',params);
        });

    }
    static addEventListener(...arg)
    {
        window.addEventListener(...arg);
    }
    static removeEventListener(...arg)
    {
        window.removeEventListener(...arg);
    }
    static dispatchEvent(event,params)
    {
        if(!(event instanceof Event)){
            event=new Event(event,{cancelable:true});
        }
        event.params=params;
        window.dispatchEvent(event);
    };
}
HistoryNavigation.init();

// exemple

HistoryNavigation.addEventListener('popstate',function(event){
    console.log('Will not start because they blocked the work');
});
HistoryNavigation.addEventListener('history.go',function(event){
    event.params.event.stopImmediatePropagation();// blocked popstate listeners
    console.log(event.params);
    // back or forward - see event.params.delta

});
HistoryNavigation.addEventListener('history.state.push',function(event){
    console.log(event);
});
HistoryNavigation.addEventListener('history.state.replace',function(event){
    console.log(event);
});
history.pushState({h:'hello'},'','');
history.pushState({h:'hello2'},'','');
history.pushState({h:'hello3'},'','');
history.back();

    ```


I had been struggling with this requirement for quite a while and took some of the solutions above to implement it. However, I stumbled upon an observation and it seems to work across Chrome, Firefox and Safari browsers + Android and iPhone

On page load:

window.history.pushState({page: 1}, "", "");

window.onpopstate = function(event) {

  // "event" object seems to contain value only when the back button is clicked
  // and if the pop state event fires due to clicks on a button
  // or a link it comes up as "undefined" 

  if(event){
    // Code to handle back button or prevent from navigation
  }
  else{
    // Continue user action through link or button
  }
}

Let me know if this helps. If am missing something, I will be happy to understand.


You can try popstate event handler, e.g:

window.addEventListener('popstate', function(event) {
    // The popstate event is fired each time when the current history entry changes.

    var r = confirm("You pressed a Back button! Are you sure?!");

    if (r == true) {
        // Call Back button programmatically as per user confirmation.
        history.back();
        // Uncomment below line to redirect to the previous page instead.
        // window.location = document.referrer // Note: IE11 is not supporting this.
    } else {
        // Stay on the current page.
        history.pushState(null, null, window.location.pathname);
    }

    history.pushState(null, null, window.location.pathname);

}, false);

Note: For the best results, you should load this code only on specific pages where you want to implement the logic to avoid any other unexpected issues.

The popstate event is fired each time when the current history entry changes (user navigates to a new state). That happens when user clicks on browser's Back/Forward buttons or when history.back(), history.forward(), history.go() methods are programatically called.

The event.state is property of the event is equal to the history state object.

For jQuery syntax, wrap it around (to add even listener after document is ready):

(function($) {
  // Above code here.
})(jQuery);

See also: window.onpopstate on page load


See also the examples on Single-Page Apps and HTML5 pushState page:

<script>
// jQuery
$(window).on('popstate', function (e) {
    var state = e.originalEvent.state;
    if (state !== null) {
        //load content with ajax
    }
});

// Vanilla javascript
window.addEventListener('popstate', function (e) {
    var state = e.state;
    if (state !== null) {
        //load content with ajax
    }
});
</script>

This should be compatible with Chrome 5+, Firefox 4+, IE 10+, Safari 6+, Opera 11.5+ and similar.


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