Navigation: back() method

Baseline 2026
Newly available

Since January 2026, this feature works across the latest devices and browser versions. This feature might not work in older devices or browsers.

The back() method of the Navigation interface navigates backwards by one entry in the navigation history.

Syntax

js
back(options)

Parameters

options Optional

An options object containing the following properties:

info Optional

Developer-defined information to be passed along to the navigate event, made available in NavigateEvent.info. This can be any data type. You might, for example, wish to display newly-navigated content with a different animation depending on how it was navigated to (swipe left, swipe right, or go home). A string indicating which animation to use could be passed in as info.

Return value

An object with the following properties:

committed

A Promise which will fulfill when the visible URL has changed and a new NavigationHistoryEntry has been created.

finished

A Promise which will fulfill when all promises returned by the intercept() handler are fulfilled. This is equivalent to the NavigationTransition.finished promise fulfilling, when the navigatesuccess event fires.

Either one of these promises rejects if the navigation has failed for some reason.

Exceptions

InvalidStateError DOMException

Thrown if the Navigation.currentEntry's NavigationHistoryEntry.index value is -1 or 0, i.e., either the current Document is not yet active, or the current history entry is the first one in the history, meaning that backwards navigation is not possible, or if the current Document is unloading.

Examples

js
async function backHandler() {
  if (navigation.canGoBack) {
    await navigation.back().finished;
    // Handle any required clean-up after
    // navigation has finished
  } else {
    displayBanner("You are on the first page");
  }
}

async function forwardHandler() {
  if (navigation.canGoForward) {
    await navigation.forward().finished;
    // Handle any required clean-up after
    // navigation has finished
  } else {
    displayBanner("You are on the last page");
  }
}

Specifications

Specification
HTML
# dom-navigation-back-dev

Browser compatibility

desktop mobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
back
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 102 (Release date: 2022-05-24)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 102 (Release date: 2022-05-31)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 147 (Release date: 2026-01-13)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 88 (Release date: 2022-06-08)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 26.2 (Release date: 2025-12-12)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 102 (Release date: 2022-05-24)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 147 (Release date: 2026-01-13)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 70 (Release date: 2022-06-29)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 26.2 (Release date: 2025-12-12)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 19 (Release date: 2022-11-01)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 102 (Release date: 2022-05-24)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 26.2 (Release date: 2025-12-12)
footnote Full support

Legend

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

Full support
Full support

See also