Web/API/HTMLDialogElement

This is an experimental technologyCheck the Browser compatibility table carefully before using this in production.

The HTMLDialogElement interface provides methods to manipulate <dialog> elements. It inherits properties and methods from the HTMLElement interface.

  <div id="interfaceDiagram" style="display: inline-block; position: relative; width: 100%; padding-bottom: 20%; vertical-align: middle; overflow: hidden;"><svg style="display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0;" viewbox="-50 0 600 120" preserveAspectRatio="xMinYMin meet"><a xlink:href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/HTMLDialogElement" target="_top"><rect x="1" y="1" width="170" height="50" fill="#F4F7F8" stroke="#D4DDE4" stroke-width="2px" /><text  x="86" y="30" font-size="12px" font-family="Consolas,Monaco,Andale Mono,monospace" fill="#4D4E53" text-anchor="middle" alignment-baseline="middle">HTMLDialogElement</text></a></svg></div>

  a:hover text { fill: #0095DD; pointer-events: all;}

Properties

Inherits properties from its parent, HTMLElement.

HTMLDialogElement.open: A Boolean reflecting the open HTML attribute, indicating whether the dialog is available for interaction.
HTMLDialogElement.returnValue: A DOMString that sets or returns the return value for the dialog.

Methods

Inherits methods from its parent, HTMLElement.

HTMLDialogElement.close(): Closes the dialog. An optional DOMString may be passed as an argument, updating the returnValue of the the dialog.
HTMLDialogElement.show(): Displays the dialog modelessly, i.e. still allowing interaction with content outside of the dialog.
HTMLDialogElement.showModal(): Displays the dialog as a modal, over the top of any other dialogs that might be present. Interaction outside the dialog is blocked.

Events

close: Fired when the dialog is closed. Also available via the onclose property.

Examples

The following example shows a simple button that, when clicked, opens a <dialog> containing a form via the HTMLDialogElement.showModal() function. From there you can click the Cancel button to close the dialog (via the HTMLDialogElement.close() function), or submit the form via the submit button.

  <!-- Simple pop-up dialog box, containing a form -->
  <dialog id="favDialog">
    <form method="dialog">
      <section>
        <p><label for="favAnimal">Favorite animal:</label>
        <select id="favAnimal" name="favAnimal">
          <option></option>
          <option>Brine shrimp</option>
          <option>Red panda</option>
          <option>Spider monkey</option>
        </select></p>
      </section>
      <menu>
        <button id="cancel" type="reset">Cancel</button>
        <button type="submit">Confirm</button>
      </menu>
    </form>
  </dialog>

  <menu>
    <button id="updateDetails">Update details</button>
  </menu>

  <script>
    (function() {
      var updateButton = document.getElementById('updateDetails');
      var cancelButton = document.getElementById('cancel');
      var dialog = document.getElementById('favDialog');
      dialog.returnValue = 'favAnimal';

      function openCheck(dialog) {
        if(dialog.open) {
          console.log('Dialog open');
        } else {
          console.log('Dialog closed');
        }
      }

      // Update button opens a modal dialog
      updateButton.addEventListener('click', function() {
        dialog.showModal();
        openCheck(dialog);
      });

      // Form cancel button closes the dialog box
      cancelButton.addEventListener('click', function() {
        dialog.close('animalNotChosen');
        openCheck(dialog);
      });

    })();
  </script>

Note: You can find this example on GitHub as htmldialogelement-basic ([[../../../../../../mdn.github.io/dom-examples/htmldialogelement-basic/index|see it live also]]).

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
HTML Living StandardThe definition of 'HTMLDialogElement' in that specification.	Living Standard
HTML 5.2The definition of '<dialog>' in that specification.	Recommendation	Initial definition

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
`HTMLDialogElement` Experimental'	Chrome Full support 37	Edge Full support 79	Firefox Full support 53 Notes' Disabled' Full support 53 Notes' Disabled' Notes' See bug 840640. Disabled' From version 53: this feature is behind the `dom.dialog_element.enabled` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	IE No support No	Opera Full support Yes	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 53 Notes' Disabled' Full support 53 Notes' Disabled' Notes' See bug 840640. Disabled' From version 53: this feature is behind the `dom.dialog_element.enabled` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
`cancel` event	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge Full support 79	Firefox Full support 78	IE No support No	Opera ?	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android No support No	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
`close` Experimental'	Chrome Full support 37	Edge Full support 79	Firefox Full support 53 Notes' Disabled' Full support 53 Notes' Disabled' Notes' See bug 840640. Disabled' From version 53: this feature is behind the `dom.dialog_element.enabled` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	IE No support No	Opera Full support Yes	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 53 Notes' Disabled' Full support 53 Notes' Disabled' Notes' See bug 840640. Disabled' From version 53: this feature is behind the `dom.dialog_element.enabled` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
`close` event	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge Full support 79	Firefox No support No	IE No support No	Opera ?	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android No support No	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
`open` Experimental'	Chrome Full support 37	Edge Full support 79	Firefox Full support 53 Notes' Disabled' Full support 53 Notes' Disabled' Notes' See bug 840640. Disabled' From version 53: this feature is behind the `dom.dialog_element.enabled` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	IE No support No	Opera Full support Yes	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 53 Notes' Disabled' Full support 53 Notes' Disabled' Notes' See bug 840640. Disabled' From version 53: this feature is behind the `dom.dialog_element.enabled` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
`returnValue` Experimental'	Chrome Full support 37	Edge Full support 79	Firefox Full support 53 Notes' Disabled' Full support 53 Notes' Disabled' Notes' See bug 840640. Disabled' From version 53: this feature is behind the `dom.dialog_element.enabled` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	IE No support No	Opera Full support Yes	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 53 Notes' Disabled' Full support 53 Notes' Disabled' Notes' See bug 840640. Disabled' From version 53: this feature is behind the `dom.dialog_element.enabled` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
`show` Experimental'	Chrome Full support 37	Edge Full support 79	Firefox Full support 53 Notes' Disabled' Full support 53 Notes' Disabled' Notes' See bug 840640. Disabled' From version 53: this feature is behind the `dom.dialog_element.enabled` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	IE No support No	Opera Full support Yes	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 53 Notes' Disabled' Full support 53 Notes' Disabled' Notes' See bug 840640. Disabled' From version 53: this feature is behind the `dom.dialog_element.enabled` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
`showModal` Experimental'	Chrome Full support 37	Edge Full support 79	Firefox Full support 53 Notes' Disabled' Full support 53 Notes' Disabled' Notes' See bug 840640. Disabled' From version 53: this feature is behind the `dom.dialog_element.enabled` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	IE No support No	Opera Full support Yes	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 53 Notes' Disabled' Full support 53 Notes' Disabled' Notes' See bug 840640. Disabled' From version 53: this feature is behind the `dom.dialog_element.enabled` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No

Legend

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