History: back() method

The back() method of the {{domxref("History")}} interface causes the browser to move back one page in the session history.

It has the same effect as calling {{domxref("History.go", "history.go(-1)")}}. If there is no previous page, this method call does nothing.

This method is {{glossary("asynchronous")}}. Add a listener for the {{domxref("Window/popstate_event", "popstate")}} event in order to determine when the navigation has completed.

Syntax

js-nolint

back()

Parameters

None.

Return value

None ({{jsxref("undefined")}}).

Exceptions

SecurityError {{domxref("DOMException")}}
- : Thrown if the associated document is not fully active. Browsers also throttle navigations and may throw this error, generate a warning, or ignore the call if it's called too frequently.

Examples

The following short example causes a button on the page to navigate back one entry in the session history.

HTML

html

<button id="go-back">Go back!</button>

JavaScript

document.getElementById("go-back").addEventListener("click", () => {
  history.back();
});