HTMLHyperlinkElementUtils.search

The HTMLHyperlinkElementUtils.search property is a search string, also called a query string, that is USVString containing a '?' followed by the parameters of the URL.

Modern browsers provide URLSearchParams and URL.searchParams to make it easy to parse out the parameters from the querystring.

Syntax

string = object.search;
object.search = string;

Examples

// Let an <a id="myAnchor" href="https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/HTMLHyperlinkElementUtils.search?q=123"> element be in the document
var anchor = document.getElementById("myAnchor");
var queryString = anchor.search; // Returns:'?q=123'

// Further parsing:
let params = new URLSearchParams(queryString);
let q = parseInt(params.get("q")); // is the number 123

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
HTML Living Standard
The definition of 'HTMLHyperlinkElementUtils.search' in that specification.
Living Standard Initial definition.

Browser compatibility

DesktopMobile
ChromeEdgeFirefoxInternet ExplorerOperaSafariAndroid webviewChrome for AndroidFirefox for AndroidOpera for AndroidSafari on iOSSamsung Internet
searchChrome Full support Yes
Notes
Full support Yes
Notes
Notes Starting in Chrome 52, this property was moved to URL
Edge Full support 12Firefox Full support 22
Notes
Full support 22
Notes
Notes From Firefox 22 to Firefox 44, this property was on the URLUtils mixin. It has been moved either on the HTMLHyperlinkElementUtils mixin, or directly on the interface.
Notes Before Firefox 53, the pathname and search HTMLHyperlinkElementUtils properties returned the wrong parts of the URL. For example, for a URL of http://z.com/x?a=true&b=false, pathname would return '/x?a=true&b=false' and search would return '', rather than '/x' and '?a=true&b=false' respectively. This has now been fixed.
IE Full support 5Opera Full support Yes
Notes
Full support Yes
Notes
Notes Starting in Opera 39, this property was moved to URL
Safari Full support YesWebView Android Full support Yes
Notes
Full support Yes
Notes
Notes Starting in Chrome 52, this property was moved to URL
Chrome Android Full support Yes
Notes
Full support Yes
Notes
Notes Starting in Chrome 52, this property was moved to URL
Firefox Android Full support 22
Notes
Full support 22
Notes
Notes From Firefox 22 to Firefox 44, this property was on the URLUtils mixin. It has been moved either on the HTMLHyperlinkElementUtils mixin, or directly on the interface.
Notes Before Firefox 53, the pathname and search HTMLHyperlinkElementUtils properties returned the wrong parts of the URL. For example, for a URL of http://z.com/x?a=true&b=false, pathname would return '/x?a=true&b=false' and search would return '', rather than '/x' and '?a=true&b=false' respectively. This has now been fixed.
Opera Android Full support Yes
Notes
Full support Yes
Notes
Notes Starting in Opera 39, this property was moved to URL
Safari iOS Full support YesSamsung Internet Android Full support Yes
Notes
Full support Yes
Notes
Notes Starting in Samsung Internet 6.0, this property was moved to URL

Legend

Full support
Full support
See implementation notes.
See implementation notes.

See also