How to close current tab in a browser window using JavaScript?

Difficulty Level : Hard
Last Updated : 18 Oct, 2019

We are going to be looking at the method to close the current tab in a browser window using JavaScript. Earlier it used to happen that with a simple JavaScript function, the current tab used to get closed. The following syntax was used for this purpose.

Syntax:

Hey geek! The constant emerging technologies in the world of web development always keeps the excitement for this subject through the roof. But before you tackle the big projects, we suggest you start by learning the basics. Kickstart your web development journey by learning JS concepts with our JavaScript Course. Now at it's lowest price ever!

window.close()

But accounting for a security feature, which was introduced a few years ago, ordinary JavaScript lost its privilege to close the current tab, just by using this syntax.

Note: A current window/tab will only get closed if and only if it was created & opened by that script.Means the window.close syntax is only allowed for the window/tab that is created & opened using window.open method.

Example: This example shows how to open GeekForGeeks window and then close it.

<!DOCTYPE html>
  
<html>
<head>
    <style>
        body{
            text-align:center;
        }
    </style>
</head>
  
<body>
  
    <h2 style="color:green">GeeksforGeeks</h2>
    <h4 style="color:purple">Close Tab/Window using JavaScript</h4>
  
    <button onclick="openWin()">Click to open GeeksforGeeks website</button>
  
    <button onclick="closeWin()">Click here to close the window</button>
  
    <script>
        var myGeeksforGeeksWindow;
  
        function openWin() {
            myGeeksforGeeksWindow = window
                     .open("https://www.geeksforgeeks.org", "_blank", "width=786, height=786");
        }
  
        function closeWin() {
            myGeeksforGeeksWindow.close();
        }
    </script>
  
</body>
  
</html>