Window.close()

The Window.close() method closes the current window, or the window on which it was called.

This method can only be called on windows that were opened by a script using the Window.open() method. If the window was not opened by a script, an error similar to this one appears in the console: Scripts may not close windows that were not opened by script.

Note also that close() has no effect when called on Window objects returned by HTMLIFrame​Element​.content​Window.

Syntax

window.close();

Examples

Closing a window opened with window.open()

This example shows a method which opens a window and a second one which closes the window; this demonstrates how to use Window.close() to close a window opened by calling window.open().

//Global var to store a reference to the opened window
var openedWindow;

function openWindow() {
  openedWindow = window.open('moreinfo.htm');
}

function closeOpenedWindow() {
  openedWindow.close();
}

Closing the current window

In the past, when you called the window object's close() method directly, rather than calling close() on a window instance, the browser closed the frontmost window, whether your script created that window or not. This is no longer the case; for security reasons, scripts are no longer allowed to close windows they didn't open. (Firefox 46.0.1: scripts can not close windows, they had not opened)

function closeCurrentWindow() {
  window.close();
}

Specification

Specification Status Comment
HTML Living Standard
The definition of 'window.close()' in that specification.
Living Standard
HTML5
The definition of 'Window.close()' in that specification.
Recommendation

Browser compatibility

DesktopMobile
ChromeEdgeFirefoxInternet ExplorerOperaSafariAndroid webviewChrome for AndroidFirefox for AndroidOpera for AndroidSafari on iOSSamsung Internet
closeChrome Full support 1Edge Full support 12Firefox Full support 1
Notes
Full support 1
Notes
Notes Starting in Firefox 46.0.1, Window.close() can no longer close windows that weren't opened by the same script. This is a security precaution.
IE Full support 4Opera Full support 3Safari Full support 1WebView Android Full support 1Chrome Android Full support 18Firefox Android Full support 4
Notes
Full support 4
Notes
Notes Starting in Firefox 46.0.1, Window.close() can no longer close windows that weren't opened by the same script. This is a security precaution.
Opera Android Full support 10.1Safari iOS Full support 1Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0

Legend

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