browserAction.setPopup()

Sets the HTML document that will be opened as a popup when the user clicks on the browser action's icon. Tabs without a specific popup will inherit the global popup, which defaults to the default_popup specified in the manifest.

Syntax

js
browser.browserAction.setPopup(
  details // object
)

Parameters

details

An object with the following properties:

tabId Optional

integer. Sets the popup only for a specific tab. The popup is reset when the user navigates this tab to a new page.

windowId Optional

integer. Sets the popup only for the specified window.

string or null. The HTML file to show in a popup, specified as a URL.

This can point to a file packaged within the extension (for example, created using extension.getURL), or a remote document (e.g., https://example.org/).

If an empty string ("") is passed here, the popup is disabled, and the extension will receive browserAction.onClicked events.

If popup is null:

  • If tabId is specified, removes the tab-specific popup so that the tab inherits the global popup.
  • If windowId is specified, removes the window-specific popup so that the window inherits the global popup.
  • If tabId and windowId are both omitted, reverts the global popup to the default value.
  • If windowId and tabId are both supplied, the function fails and the popup is not set.
  • If windowId and tabId are both omitted, the global popup is set.

Examples

This code adds a pair of context menu items that you can use to switch between two popups. Note that you'll need the "contextMenus" permission set in the extension's manifest to create context menu items.

js
function onCreated() {
  if (browser.runtime.lastError) {
    console.log("error creating item:", browser.runtime.lastError);
  } else {
    console.log("item created successfully");
  }
}

browser.contextMenus.create(
  {
    id: "popup-1",
    type: "radio",
    title: "Popup 1",
    contexts: ["all"],
    checked: true,
  },
  onCreated,
);

browser.contextMenus.create(
  {
    id: "popup-2",
    type: "radio",
    title: "Popup 2",
    contexts: ["all"],
    checked: false,
  },
  onCreated,
);

browser.contextMenus.onClicked.addListener((info, tab) => {
  if (info.menuItemId === "popup-1") {
    browser.browserAction.setPopup({ popup: "/popup/popup1.html" });
  } else if (info.menuItemId === "popup-2") {
    browser.browserAction.setPopup({ popup: "/popup/popup2.html" });
  }
});

Browser compatibility

desktop mobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Firefox for Android
Safari on iOS
setPopup
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 5 (Release date: 2010-05-25)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 14 (Release date: 2016-08-02)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 45 (Release date: 2016-03-08)
footnote
footnote Before Firefox 58, tab-specific popups are not cleared when a new page is loaded.
Opera – Full support
Opera 15 (Release date: 2013-07-02)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 14 (Release date: 2020-09-16)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 57 (Release date: 2017-11-28)
footnote
footnote Before Firefox Android 58, tab-specific popups are not cleared when a new page is loaded.
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 15 (Release date: 2021-09-20)
footnote Full support
details.windowId parameter
Chrome – No support
Chrome
footnote No support
Edge – No support
Edge
footnote No support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 62 (Release date: 2018-09-05)
footnote Full support
Opera – No support
Opera
footnote No support
Safari – Full support
Safari 18 (Release date: 2024-09-16)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 79 (Release date: 2020-07-28)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 18 (Release date: 2024-09-16)
footnote Full support
The popup property of the details parameter can be set to null.
Chrome – No support
Chrome
footnote No support
Edge – No support
Edge
footnote No support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 59 (Release date: 2018-03-13)
footnote Full support
Opera – No support
Opera
footnote No support
Safari – Full support
Safari 18 (Release date: 2024-09-16)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 79 (Release date: 2020-07-28)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 18 (Release date: 2024-09-16)
footnote Full support

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support
No support
No support
See implementation notes.

Note: This API is based on Chromium's chrome.browserAction API. This documentation is derived from browser_action.json in the Chromium code.