Reflect.preventExtensions()

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since September 2016.

The Reflect.preventExtensions() static method is like Object.preventExtensions(). It prevents new properties from ever being added to an object (i.e., prevents future extensions to the object).

Try it

const object = {};

console.log(Reflect.isExtensible(object));
// Expected output: true

Reflect.preventExtensions(object);

console.log(Reflect.isExtensible(object));
// Expected output: false

Syntax

js
Reflect.preventExtensions(target)

Parameters

target

The target object on which to prevent extensions.

Return value

A Boolean indicating whether or not the target was successfully set to prevent extensions.

Exceptions

TypeError

Thrown if target is not an object.

Description

Reflect.preventExtensions() provides the reflective semantic of preventing extensions of an object. The differences with Object.preventExtensions() are:

  • Reflect.preventExtensions() throws a TypeError if the target is not an object, while Object.preventExtensions() always returns non-object targets as-is.
  • Reflect.preventExtensions() returns a Boolean indicating whether or not the target was successfully set to prevent extensions, while Object.preventExtensions() returns the target object.

Reflect.preventExtensions() invokes the [[PreventExtensions]] object internal method of target.

Examples

Using Reflect.preventExtensions()

See also Object.preventExtensions().

js
// Objects are extensible by default.
const empty = {};
Reflect.isExtensible(empty); // true

// … but that can be changed.
Reflect.preventExtensions(empty);
Reflect.isExtensible(empty); // false

Difference with Object.preventExtensions()

If the target argument to this method is not an object (a primitive), then it will cause a TypeError. With Object.preventExtensions(), a non-object target will be returned as-is without any errors.

js
Reflect.preventExtensions(1);
// TypeError: 1 is not an object

Object.preventExtensions(1);
// 1

Specifications

Specification
ECMAScript® 2027 Language Specification
# sec-reflect.preventextensions

Browser compatibility

desktop mobile server
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
Bun
Deno
Node.js
preventExtensions
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 49 (Release date: 2016-03-02)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 12 (Release date: 2015-07-29)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 42 (Release date: 2015-11-03)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 36 (Release date: 2016-03-15)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 10 (Release date: 2016-09-20)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 49 (Release date: 2016-03-09)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 42 (Release date: 2015-11-03)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 36 (Release date: 2016-03-31)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 10 (Release date: 2016-09-13)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 5 (Release date: 2016-12-15)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 49 (Release date: 2016-03-09)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 10 (Release date: 2016-09-13)
footnote Full support
Bun – Full support
Bun 1 (Release date: 2023-09-08)
footnote Full support
Deno – Full support
Deno 1 (Release date: 2020-05-13)
footnote Full support
Node.js – Full support
Node.js 6 (Release date: 2016-04-26)
footnote Full support

Legend

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Full support
Full support

See also