tabs

Interact with the browser's tab system.

Note: When using Manifest V3 or higher, the methods to execute scripts, insert CSS, and remove CSS are provided by the scripting API through the scripting.executeScript(), scripting.insertCSS() and scripting.removeCSS() methods.

You can use this API to get a list of opened tabs, filtered by various criteria, and to open, update, move, reload, and remove tabs. You can't directly access the content hosted by tabs using this API, but you can insert JavaScript and CSS into tabs using the tabs.executeScript() or tabs.insertCSS() APIs.

You can use most of this API without any special permission. However:

  • To access Tab.url, Tab.title, and Tab.favIconUrl (or to filter by these properties via tabs.query()), you need to have the "tabs" permission, or have host permissions that match Tab.url.
    • Access to these properties by host permissions is supported since Firefox 86 and Chrome 50. In Firefox 85 and earlier, the "tabs" permission was required instead.
  • To use tabs.executeScript() or tabs.insertCSS(), you must have the host permission for the tab

Alternatively, you can get these permissions temporarily, only for the currently active tab and only in response to an explicit user action, by asking for the "activeTab" permission.

Many tab operations use a Tab id. Tab ids are guaranteed to be unique to a single tab only within a browser session. If the browser is restarted, then it can and will reuse tab ids. To associate information with a tab across browser restarts, use sessions.setTabValue().

Types

tabs.MutedInfoReason

Specifies the reason a tab was muted or unmuted.

tabs.MutedInfo

This object contains a boolean indicating whether the tab is muted, and the reason for the last state change.

tabs.PageSettings

Used to control how a tab is rendered as a PDF by the tabs.saveAsPDF() method.

tabs.Tab

This type contains information about a tab.

tabs.TabStatus

Indicates whether the tab has finished loading.

tabs.WindowType

The type of window that hosts this tab.

tabs.ZoomSettingsMode

Defines whether zoom changes are handled by the browser, by the extension, or are disabled.

tabs.ZoomSettingsScope

Defines whether zoom changes will persist for the page's origin, or only take effect in this tab.

tabs.ZoomSettings

Defines zoom settings mode, scope, and default zoom factor.

Properties

tabs.TAB_ID_NONE

A special ID value given to tabs that are not browser tabs (for example, tabs in devtools windows).

Functions

tabs.captureTab()

Creates a data URL encoding an image of the visible area of the given tab.

tabs.captureVisibleTab()

Creates a data URL encoding an image of the visible area of the currently active tab in the specified window.

tabs.connect()

Sets up a messaging connection between the extension's background scripts (or other privileged scripts, such as popup scripts or options page scripts) and any content scripts running in the specified tab.

tabs.create()

Creates a new tab.

tabs.detectLanguage()

Detects the primary language of the content in a tab.

tabs.discard()

Discards one or more tabs.

tabs.duplicate()

Duplicates a tab.

tabs.executeScript() (Manifest V2 only)

Injects JavaScript code into a page.

tabs.get()

Retrieves details about the specified tab.

tabs.getAllInWindow()

Gets details about all tabs in the specified window.

tabs.getCurrent()

Gets information about the tab that this script is running in, as a tabs.Tab object.

tabs.getSelected()

Gets the tab that is selected in the specified window. Deprecated: use tabs.query({active: true}) instead.

tabs.getZoom()

Gets the current zoom factor of the specified tab.

tabs.getZoomSettings()

Gets the current zoom settings for the specified tab.

tabs.goForward()

Go forward to the next page, if one is available.

tabs.goBack()

Go back to the previous page, if one is available.

tabs.hide()

Hides one or more tabs.

tabs.highlight()

Highlights one or more tabs.

tabs.insertCSS() (Manifest V2 only)

Injects CSS into a page.

tabs.move()

Moves one or more tabs to a new position in the same window or to a different window.

tabs.moveInSuccession()

Modifies the succession relationship for a group of tabs.

tabs.print()

Prints the contents of the active tab.

tabs.printPreview()

Opens print preview for the active tab.

tabs.query()

Gets all tabs that have the specified properties, or all tabs if no properties are specified.

tabs.reload()

Reload a tab, optionally bypassing the local web cache.

tabs.remove()

Closes one or more tabs.

tabs.removeCSS() (Manifest V2 only)

Removes from a page CSS which was previously injected by calling tabs.insertCSS().

tabs.saveAsPDF()

Saves the current page as a PDF.

tabs.sendMessage()

Sends a single message to the content script(s) in the specified tab.

tabs.sendRequest()

Sends a single request to the content script(s) in the specified tab. Deprecated: use tabs.sendMessage() instead.

tabs.setZoom()

Zooms the specified tab.

tabs.setZoomSettings()

Sets the zoom settings for the specified tab.

tabs.show()

Shows one or more tabs that have been hidden.

tabs.toggleReaderMode()

Toggles Reader mode for the specified tab.

tabs.update()

Navigate the tab to a new URL, or modify other properties of the tab.

tabs.warmup()

Prepare the tab to make a potential following switch faster.

Events

tabs.onActivated

Fires when the active tab in a window changes. Note that the tab's URL may not be set at the time this event fired.

tabs.onActiveChanged

Fires when the selected tab in a window changes. Deprecated: use tabs.onActivated instead.

tabs.onAttached

Fired when a tab is attached to a window, for example because it was moved between windows.

tabs.onCreated

Fired when a tab is created. Note that the tab's URL may not be set at the time this event fired.

tabs.onDetached

Fired when a tab is detached from a window, for example because it is being moved between windows.

tabs.onHighlightChanged

Fired when the highlighted or selected tabs in a window change. Deprecated: use tabs.onHighlighted instead.

tabs.onHighlighted

Fired when the highlighted or selected tabs in a window change.

tabs.onMoved

Fired when a tab is moved within a window.

tabs.onRemoved

Fired when a tab is closed.

tabs.onReplaced

Fired when a tab is replaced with another tab due to prerendering.

tabs.onSelectionChanged

Fires when the selected tab in a window changes. Deprecated: use tabs.onActivated instead.

tabs.onUpdated

Fired when a tab is updated.

tabs.onZoomChange

Fired when a tab is zoomed.

Browser compatibility

Desktop Mobile
Chrome Edge Firefox Internet Explorer Opera Safari WebView Android Chrome Android Firefox for Android Opera Android Safari on IOS Samsung Internet
MutedInfo 46 79 47 ? 33
14reason and extensionId will not be populated.
 ? ? No ? No ?
MutedInfoReason 46 79 47 ? 33 No ? ? No ? No ?
PageSettings No No 56 ? No No ? ? No ? No ?
TAB_ID_NONE 46 14 45 ? 33 14 ? ? 54 ? 15 ?
TabStatus 5 14 45 ? 15 14 ? ? 54 ? 15 ?
WindowType Yes 14 45 ? Yes 14 ? ? 54 ? 15 ?
ZoomSettings 38 79 45 ? 25 No ? ? No ? No ?
ZoomSettingsMode 38 79 45 ? 25 No ? ? No ? No ?
ZoomSettingsScope 38 79 45 ? 25 No ? ? No ? No ?
captureTab No No 59 ? No No ? ? 82 ? No ?
captureVisibleTab
5The default file format is 'jpeg'.
 15 47 ?
15The default file format is 'jpeg'.
14["The default file format is 'jpeg'.", "<all_urls> permission is optional."]
 ? ? 54 ?
15["The default file format is 'jpeg'.", "<all_urls> permission is optional."]
 ?
connect 5 79 45 ? 15 14 ? ? 54 ? 15 ?
create 5 14 45 ? 15 14 ? ? 54 ? 15 ?
detectLanguage 5 14 45 ? 15
14["Will return und (undefined language) for OS lower than 11.", "Locale identifier will include the country code more often."]
 ? ? No ? 15 ?
discard
54["Only accepts a single tab ID as a parameter, not an array.", "The tab ID argument is optional: if it is omitted, the browser discards the least important tab.", "The callback is passed a Tab object representing the tab that was discarded.", "Tabs whose document contains a beforeunload listener that displays a prompt will be discarded."]
 14 58 ?
41["Only accepts a single tab ID as a parameter, not an array.", "The tab ID argument is optional: if it is omitted, the browser discards the least important tab.", "The callback is passed a Tab object representing the tab that was discarded.", "Tabs whose document contains a beforeunload listener that displays a prompt will be discarded."]
 No ? ? No ? No ?
duplicate 23 79 47 ? 15 14 ? ? No ? 15 ?
executeScript
5["Extensions can't inject scripts into their own pages using this API.", "Available for use in Manifest V2 only."]
14Available for use in Manifest V2 only.
43["Before version 50, Firefox would pass a single result value into its callback rather than an array, unless 'allFrames' had been set.", "Available for use in Manifest V2 only."]
 ?
15["Extensions can't inject scripts into their own pages using this API.", "Available for use in Manifest V2 only."]
14Available for use in Manifest V2 only.
 ? ?
54Available for use in Manifest V2 only.
 ?
15Available for use in Manifest V2 only.
 ?
get 5 14 45 ? 15 14 ? ? 54 ? 15 ?
getAllInWindow 5 79 No ? No No ? ? No ? No ?
getCurrent 6 14 45 ? 15 14 ? ? 54 ? 15 ?
getSelected Yes 79 No ? No 14 ? ? No ? 15 ?
getZoom Yes 79 45 ? Yes 14 ? ? No ? 15 ?
getZoomSettings 42 79 45 ? 29 No ? ? No ? No ?
goBack 72 79 77 ? 60 14 ? ? 79 ? 15 ?
goForward 72 79 77 ? 60 14 ? ? 79 ? 15 ?
hide No No 61 ? No No ? ? No ? No ?
highlight Yes 79 63 ? No No ? ? No ? No ?
insertCSS
YesAvailable for use in Manifest V2 only.
14Available for use in Manifest V2 only.
47Available for use in Manifest V2 only.
 ?
YesAvailable for use in Manifest V2 only.
14Available for use in Manifest V2 only.
 ? ?
54Available for use in Manifest V2 only.
 ?
15Available for use in Manifest V2 only.
 ?
move Yes 79 46 ? Yes No ? ? No ? No ?
moveInSuccession No No 65 ? No No ? ? No ? No ?
onActivated Yes 14 45 ? Yes 14 ? ? 54 ? 15 ?
onActiveChanged Yes 79 No ? No No ? ? No ? No ?
onAttached Yes 15 45 ? Yes 14 ? ? 54 ? 15 ?
onCreated Yes 14 45 ? Yes 14 ? ? 54 ? 15 ?
onDetached Yes 15 45 ? Yes 14 ? ? 54 ? 15 ?
onHighlightChanged Yes 79 No ? No No ? ? No ? No ?
onHighlighted Yes 79 63
45–62Implemented as an alias for onActivated.
 ? No 14 ? ?
54Implemented as an alias for onActivated.
 ? 15 ?
onMoved Yes 79 45 ? Yes 14 ? ? No ? 15 ?
onRemoved Yes 14 45 ? Yes 14 ? ? 54 ? 15 ?
onReplaced Yes 79 No ? Yes No ? ? No ? No ?
onSelectionChanged Yes 79 No ? No No ? ? No ? No ?
onUpdated Yes 14 45 ? Yes 14 ? ? 54 ? 15 ?
onZoomChange Yes 79 45 ? Yes No ? ? No ? No ?
print No No 56 ? No No ? ? No ? No ?
printPreview No No 56 ? No No ? ? No ? No ?
query Yes
14The panel, app, devtools and popup values for WindowType are not supported.
 45 ? Yes
14Pattern matching supports * and ?.
 ? ? 54 ?
15Pattern matching supports * and ?.
 ?
reload Yes 17 45 ? Yes 14 ? ? 54 ? 15 ?
remove Yes 14 45 ? Yes 14 ? ? 54 ? 15 ?
removeCSS
87Available for use in Manifest V2 only.
87Available for use in Manifest V2 only.
49Available for use in Manifest V2 only.
 ?
73Available for use in Manifest V2 only.
14Available for use in Manifest V2 only.
 ? ?
54Available for use in Manifest V2 only.
 ?
15Available for use in Manifest V2 only.
 ?
saveAsPDF No No 81
56–81This function does not work on macOS.
 ? No No ? ? No ? No ?
sendMessage Yes
14No response is sent after the receiving tab is refreshed if there is no runtime.onMessage listener.
 45 ? Yes 14 ? ? 54 ? 15 ?
sendRequest Yes 79 No ? No No ? ? No ? No ?
setZoom Yes 79 45 ? Yes 14 ? ? No ? 15 ?
setZoomSettings Yes 79 No ? Yes No ? ? No ? No ?
show No No 61 ? No No ? ? No ? No ?
toggleReaderMode No No 58 ? No No ? ? No ? No ?
update Yes 14 45 ? Yes 14 ? ? 54 ? 15 ?
warmup No No 79 ? No No ? ? No ? No ?

Example extensions

Note: This API is based on Chromium's chrome.tabs API. This documentation is derived from tabs.json in the Chromium code.

© 2005–2023 MDN contributors.
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions/API/tabs