Web/API/PluginArray

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

The PluginArray interface is used to store a list of Plugin objects describing the available plugins; it's returned by the window.navigator.plugins property. The PluginArray is not a JavaScript array, but has the length property and supports accessing individual items using bracket notation (plugins[2]), as well as via item(index) and namedItem("name") methods.

Note: Own properties of PluginArray objects are no longer enumerable in the latest browser versions.

Properties

PluginArray.lengthRead only

The number of plugins in the array.

Methods

PluginArray.item

Returns the Plugin at the specified index into the array.

PluginArray.namedItem

Returns the Plugin with the specified name.

PluginArray.refresh

Refreshes all plugins on the current page, optionally reloading documents.

Examples

The following example function returns the version of the Shockwave Flash plugin.

var pluginsLength = navigator.plugins.length;

document.body.innerHTML = pluginsLength + " Plugin(s)<br>"
  + '<table id="pluginTable"><thead>'
  +'<tr><th>Name</th><th>Filename</th><th>description</th><th>version</th></tr>'
  +'</thead><tbody></tbody></table>';

var table = document.getElementById('pluginTable');

for(var i = 0; i < pluginsLength; i++) {
  let newRow = table.insertRow();
  newRow.insertCell().textContent = navigator.plugins[i].name;
  newRow.insertCell().textContent = navigator.plugins[i].filename;
  newRow.insertCell().textContent = navigator.plugins[i].description;
  newRow.insertCell().textContent = navigator.plugins[i].version?navigator.plugins[i].version:"";
}

The following example displays information about the installed plugin(s).

var pluginsLength = navigator.plugins.length;

document.write(
  pluginsLength.toString() + " Plugin(s)<br>" +
  "Name | Filename | description<br>"
);

for(var i = 0; i < pluginsLength; i++) {
  document.write(
    navigator.plugins[i].name +
    " | " +
    navigator.plugins[i].filename +
    " | " +
    navigator.plugins[i].description +
    " | " +
    navigator.plugins[i].version +
    "<br>"
  );
}

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
HTML Living StandardThe definition of 'PluginArray' in that specification.	Living Standard	Initial definition.

Browser compatibility

The compatibility table on this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.

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
PluginArray	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support Yes	IE ?	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support Yes	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes
item	Chrome Full support Yes Notes' Full support Yes Notes' Notes' Starting with version 59, method parameters are required instead of optional.	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support Yes	IE ?	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support Yes Notes' Full support Yes Notes' Notes' Starting with version 59, method parameters are required instead of optional.	Chrome Android Full support Yes Notes' Full support Yes Notes' Notes' Starting with version 59, method parameters are required instead of optional.	Firefox Android Full support Yes	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes Notes' Full support Yes Notes' Notes' Starting with Samsung Internet 7.0, method parameters are required instead of optional.
length	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support Yes	IE ?	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support Yes	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes
namedItem	Chrome Full support Yes Notes' Full support Yes Notes' Notes' Starting with version 59, method parameters are required instead of optional.	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support Yes	IE ?	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support Yes Notes' Full support Yes Notes' Notes' Starting with version 59, method parameters are required instead of optional.	Chrome Android Full support Yes Notes' Full support Yes Notes' Notes' Starting with version 59, method parameters are required instead of optional.	Firefox Android Full support Yes	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes Notes' Full support Yes Notes' Notes' Starting with Samsung Internet 7.0, method parameters are required instead of optional.
refresh	Chrome Full support Yes Notes' Full support Yes Notes' Notes' Starting with version 59, method parameters are required instead of optional.	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support Yes	IE ?	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support Yes Notes' Full support Yes Notes' Notes' Starting with version 59, method parameters are required instead of optional.	Chrome Android Full support Yes Notes' Full support Yes Notes' Notes' Starting with version 59, method parameters are required instead of optional.	Firefox Android Full support Yes	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes Notes' Full support Yes Notes' Notes' Starting with Samsung Internet 7.0, method parameters are required instead of optional.

Legend

Full support  

Full support

No support  

No support

Compatibility unknown  

Compatibility unknown

See implementation notes.'

See implementation notes.

In addition to listing each plugin as a pseudo-array by zero-indexed numeric properties, Firefox provides properties that are the plugin name directly on the PluginArray object.

PluginArray by Mozilla Contributors is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.5.