Web/API/Window/opener

The Window interface's opener property returns a reference to the window that opened the window, either with open(), or by navigating a link with a target attribute.

In other words, if window A opens window B, B.opener returns A.

Syntax

const openerWindow = window.opener

Value

A Window-like object referring to the window that opened the current window (using window.open(), or by a link with target attribute set). If this window was not opened by being linked to or created by another, returns null.

If the opener is not on the same origin as the current page, functionality of the opener object is limited. For example, variables and functions on the window object are not accessible. However, navigation of the opener window is possible, which means that the opened page can open an URL in the original tab or window. In some cases, this makes phishing attacks possible, where a trusted page that is opened in the original window is replaced by a phishing page by the newly opened page.

In the following cases, the browser does not populate window.opener, but leaves it null:

• The opener can be omitted by specifying rel=noopener on a link, or passing noopener in the windowFeatures parameter.
• From Firefox 79, windows opened because of links with a target of _blank don't get an opener, unless explicitly requested with rel=opener.
• Having a Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy header with a value of same-origin prevents setting opener. Since the new window is loaded in a different browsing context, it won't have a reference to the opening window.

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
HTML Living StandardThe definition of 'window.opener' in that specification.	Living Standard

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
opener	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 1	IE Full support 9	Opera Full support 3	Safari Full support 1	WebView Android Full support 1	Chrome Android Full support 18	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support 10.1	Safari iOS Full support 1	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0

Legend

Full support  

Full support

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