Web/API/XMLHTTPRequest/setRequestHeader

The XMLHttpRequest method setRequestHeader() sets the value of an HTTP request header. When using setRequestHeader(), you must call it after calling open(), but before calling send(). If this method is called several times with the same header, the values are merged into one single request header.

Each time you call setRequestHeader() after the first time you call it, the specified text is appended to the end of the existing header's content.

If no Accept header has been set using this, an Accept header with the type "*/*" is sent with the request when send() is called.

For security reasons, some headers can only be controlled by the user agent. These headers include the forbidden header names and forbidden response header names.

Note: For your custom fields, you may encounter a "not allowed by Access-Control-Allow-Headers in preflight response" exception when you send requests across domains. In this situation, you need to set up the Access-Control-Allow-Headers in your response header at server side.

Syntax

XMLHttpRequest.setRequestHeader(header, value)

Parameters

header: The name of the header whose value is to be set.
value: The value to set as the body of the header.

Return value

undefined.

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
XMLHttpRequestThe definition of 'setRequestHeader()' in that specification.	Living Standard	WHATWG 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
`setRequestHeader`	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 1	IE Full support 5	Opera Full support 8	Safari Full support 1.2	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