tabs

Interact with the browser's tab system.

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 URI encoding an image of the visible area of the given tab.
tabs.captureVisibleTab()
Creates a data URI 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()
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()
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()
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
Yes
79
47
?
Yes
14
reason and extensionId will not be populated.
?
?
No
?
?
?
MutedInfoReason
Yes
79
47
?
Yes
No
?
?
No
?
?
?
PageSettings
No
No
56
?
No
No
?
?
No
?
?
?
TAB_ID_NONE
Yes
14
45
?
Yes
14
?
?
54
?
?
?
TabStatus
Yes
14
45
?
Yes
14
?
?
54
?
?
?
WindowType
Yes
14
45
?
Yes
14
?
?
54
?
?
?
ZoomSettings
Yes
79
45
?
Yes
No
?
?
No
?
?
?
ZoomSettingsMode
Yes
79
45
?
Yes
No
?
?
No
?
?
?
ZoomSettingsScope
Yes
79
45
?
Yes
No
?
?
No
?
?
?
captureTab
No
No
59
?
No
No
?
?
82
?
?
?
captureVisibleTab
Yes
The default file format is 'jpeg'.
15
47
?
Yes
The default file format is 'jpeg'.
14
["The default file format is 'jpeg'.", " permission not required to call this."]
?
?
54
?
?
?
connect
Yes
79
45
?
Yes
14
?
?
54
?
?
?
create
Yes
14
45
?
Yes
14
?
?
54
?
?
?
detectLanguage
Yes
14
45
?
Yes
14
["Will return und (undefined language) for OS lower than 10.16.", "Locale identifier will include the country code more often."]
?
?
No
?
?
?
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
?
Yes
["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
?
?
?
duplicate
Yes
79
47
?
Yes
14
?
?
No
?
?
?
executeScript
Yes
Extensions can't inject scripts into their own pages using this API.
14
43
Before version 50, Firefox would pass a single result value into its callback rather than an array, unless 'allFrames' had been set.
?
Yes
Extensions can't inject scripts into their own pages using this API.
14
?
?
54
?
?
?
get
Yes
14
45
?
Yes
14
?
?
54
?
?
?
getAllInWindow
Yes
79
No
?
No
No
?
?
No
?
?
?
getCurrent
Yes
14
45
?
Yes
14
?
?
54
?
?
?
getSelected
Yes
79
No
?
No
14
?
?
No
?
?
?
getZoom
Yes
79
45
?
Yes
14
?
?
No
?
?
?
getZoomSettings
Yes
79
45
?
Yes
No
?
?
No
?
?
?
goBack
72
79
77
?
60
14
?
?
79
?
?
?
goForward
72
79
77
?
60
14
?
?
79
?
?
?
hide
No
No
61
?
No
No
?
?
No
?
?
?
highlight
Yes
79
63
?
No
No
?
?
No
?
?
?
insertCSS
Yes
14
47
?
Yes
14
?
?
54
?
?
?
move
Yes
79
46
?
Yes
No
?
?
No
?
?
?
moveInSuccession
No
No
65
?
No
No
?
?
No
?
?
?
onActivated
Yes
14
45
?
Yes
14
?
?
54
?
?
?
onActiveChanged
Yes
79
No
?
No
No
?
?
No
?
?
?
onAttached
Yes
15
45
?
Yes
14
?
?
54
?
?
?
onCreated
Yes
14
45
?
Yes
14
?
?
54
?
?
?
onDetached
Yes
15
45
?
Yes
14
?
?
54
?
?
?
onHighlightChanged
Yes
79
No
?
No
No
?
?
No
?
?
?
onHighlighted
Yes
79
63
45-62
Implemented as an alias for onActivated.
?
No
14
?
?
54
Implemented as an alias for onActivated.
?
?
?
onMoved
Yes
79
45
?
Yes
14
?
?
No
?
?
?
onRemoved
Yes
14
45
?
Yes
14
?
?
54
?
?
?
onReplaced
Yes
79
No
?
Yes
14
?
?
No
?
?
?
onSelectionChanged
Yes
79
No
?
No
No
?
?
No
?
?
?
onUpdated
Yes
14
45
?
Yes
14
?
?
54
?
?
?
onZoomChange
Yes
79
45
?
Yes
No
?
?
No
?
?
?
print
No
No
56
?
No
No
?
?
No
?
?
?
printPreview
No
No
56
?
No
No
?
?
No
?
?
?
query
Yes
14
The panel, app, devtools and popup values for WindowType are not supported.
45
?
Yes
14
Pattern matching supports * and ?.
?
?
54
?
?
?
reload
Yes
17
45
?
Yes
14
?
?
54
?
?
?
remove
Yes
14
45
?
Yes
14
?
?
54
?
?
?
removeCSS
No
No
49
?
No
14
?
?
54
?
?
?
saveAsPDF
No
No
81
56-81
This function does not work on macOS.
?
No
No
?
?
No
?
?
?
sendMessage
Yes
14
No response is sent after the receiving tab is refreshed if there is no `runtime.onMessage` listener.
45
?
Yes
14
?
?
54
?
?
?
sendRequest
Yes
79
No
?
No
No
?
?
No
?
?
?
setZoom
Yes
79
45
?
Yes
14
?
?
No
?
?
?
setZoomSettings
Yes
79
No
?
Yes
No
?
?
No
?
?
?
show
No
No
61
?
No
No
?
?
No
?
?
?
toggleReaderMode
No
No
58
?
No
No
?
?
No
?
?
?
update
Yes
14
45
?
Yes
14
?
?
54
?
?
?
warmup
No
No
79
?
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.

Microsoft Edge compatibility data is supplied by Microsoft Corporation and is included here under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.

© 2005–2021 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