Web/API/Body/text

The text() method of the Body mixin takes a Response stream and reads it to completion. It returns a promise that resolves with a USVString object (text). The response is always decoded using UTF-8.

Syntax

response.text().then(function (text) {
  // do something with the text response 
});

Parameters

None.

Return value

A Promise that resolves with a USVString.

Example

In our fetch text example (run [[../../../../../../../mdn.github.io/fetch-examples/fetch-text/index|fetch text live]]), we have an <article> element and three links (stored in the myLinks array.) First, we loop through all of these and give each one an onclick event handler so that the getData() function is run — with the link's data-page identifier passed to it as an argument — when one of the links is clicked.

When getData() is run, we create a new request using the Request() constructor, then use it to fetch a specific .txt file. When the fetch is successful, we read a USVString (text) object out of the response using text(), then set the innerHTML of the <article> element equal to the text object.

let myArticle = document.querySelector('article');
let myLinks = document.querySelectorAll('ul a');

for(let i = 0; i <= myLinks.length-1; i++) {
  myLinks[i].onclick = function(e) {
    e.preventDefault();
    let linkData = e.target.getAttribute('data-page');
    getData(linkData);
  }
};

function getData(pageId) {
  console.log(pageId);
  var myRequest = new Request(pageId + '.txt');
  fetch(myRequest).then(function(response) {
    return response.text().then(function(text) {
      myArticle.innerHTML = text;
    });
  });
}

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
FetchThe definition of 'text()' in that specification.	Living Standard

Browser compatibility

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
`text` Experimental'	Chrome Full support 42 Full support 42 Full support 41 Disabled' Disabled' From version 41: this feature is behind the `Experimental Web Platform Features` preference. To change preferences in Chrome, visit chrome://flags.	Edge Full support ≤18	Firefox Full support 39 Full support 39 Full support 34 Disabled' Disabled' From version 34: this feature is behind the `dom.fetch.enabled` preference. To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	IE No support No	Opera Full support 29 Full support 29 Full support 28 Disabled' Disabled' From version 28: this feature is behind the `Experimental Web Platform Features` preference.	Safari Full support 10.1	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android Full support 42	Firefox Android No support No	Opera Android Full support 29 Full support 29 Full support 28 Disabled' Disabled' From version 28: this feature is behind the `Experimental Web Platform Features` preference.	Safari iOS Full support 10.3	Samsung Internet Android Full support 4.0

Legend

Full support: Full support
No support: No support
Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.': Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.
User must explicitly enable this feature.': User must explicitly enable this feature.