The localStorage property allows you to access a local Storage object. localStorage is similar to sessionStorage. The only difference is that, while data stored in localStorage has no expiration time, data stored in sessionStorage gets cleared when the browsing session ends—that is, when the browser is closed.
Syntax
myStorage = localStorage;
Value
A Storage object.
Example
The following snippet accesses the current domain's local Storage object and adds a data item to it using Storage.setItem().
localStorage.setItem('myCat', 'Tom');
Note: Please refer to the Using the Web Storage API article for a full example.
Specifications
| Specification | Status | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Web Storage (Second edition) The definition of 'localStorage' in that specification. |
Recommendation |
Browser compatibility
| Feature | Chrome | Firefox (Gecko) | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari (WebKit) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| localStorage | 4 | 3.5 | 8 | 10.50 | 4 |
| sessionStorage | 5 | 2 | 8 | 10.50 | 4 |
| Feature | Android | Firefox Mobile (Gecko) | IE Phone | Opera Mobile | Safari Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | 2.1 | ? | 8 | 11 | iOS 3.2 |
All browsers have varying capacity levels for both localStorage and sessionStorage. Here is a detailed rundown of all the storage capacities for various browsers.
Note: Starting with iOS 5.1, Safari Mobile stores localStorage data in the cache folder, which is subject to occasional clean up, at the behest of the OS, typically if space is short. Safari Mobile's Private Browsing mode also prevents writing to localStorage entirely.