Returns the online status of the browser. The property returns a boolean value, with true meaning online and false meaning offline. The property sends updates whenever the browser's ability to connect to the network changes. The update occurs when the user follows links or when a script requests a remote page. For example, the property should return false when users click links soon after they lose internet connection.
Browsers implement this property differently.
In Chrome and Safari, if the browser is not able to connect to a local area network (LAN) or a router, it is offline; all other conditions return true. So while you can assume that the browser is offline when it returns a false value, you cannot assume that a true value necessarily means that the browser can access the internet. You could be getting false positives, such as in cases where the computer is running a virtualization software that has virtual ethernet adapters that are always "connected." Therefore, if you really want to determine the online status of the browser, you should develop additional means for checking. To learn more, see the HTML5 Rocks article, Working Off the Grid.
In Firefox and Internet Explorer, switching the browser to offline mode sends a false value. Until Firefox 41, all other conditions return a true value; since Firefox 41, on OS X and Windows, the value will follow the actual network connectivity.
You can see changes in the network state by listening for the events on window.ononline and window.onoffline.
Syntax
online = window.navigator.onLine;
Value
online is a boolean true or false.
Example
View a live example.
To check if you are online, query window.navigator.onLine, as in the following example:
if (navigator.onLine) {
console.log('online');
} else {
console.log('offline');
}
If the browser doesn't support navigator.onLine the above example will always come out as false/undefined.
To see changes in the network state, use addEventListener to listen for the for the events on window.ononline and window.onoffline, as in the following example:
window.addEventListener("offline", function(e) { console.log("offline"); });
window.addEventListener("online", function(e) { console.log("online"); });
Specifications
| Specification | Status | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| WHATWG HTML Living Standard The definition of 'navigator.onLine' in that specification. |
Living Standard | Initial definition |
Browser compatibility
| Feature | Chrome | Firefox (Gecko) | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari (WebKit) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | (Yes)[1] | 3.5 (1.9.1)[2] 4.0 (2.0)[4] |
8[3] | No support[2] | 5.0.4 |
on WorkerNavigator |
Yes | 29 (29) | ? | ? | ? |
| Feature | Android | Firefox Mobile (Gecko) | IE Phone | Opera Mobile | Safari Mobile | BlackBerry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | 2.2[5] | 1.0 (1.9.1)[2] | ? | ? | ? |
7 |
on WorkerNavigator |
? | 29.0 (29) | ? | ? | ? | ? |
[1] Earlier versions of Chrome incorrectly return true when a tab is first opened, but it starts reporting the correct connectivity status after the first network event. Windows: 11, Mac: 14, Chrome OS: 13, Linux: Always returns true. For history, see crbug.com/7469.
[2] Since Firefox 4, and Opera 11.10, the browser returns true when "Work Offline" mode is disabled and false when it is enabled, regardless of actual connectivity.
[3] in Internet Explorer 8 "online" and "offline" events are raised on the document.body; under IE 9 they are raised on both document.body and window.
[4] Since Firefox 41, on OS X and Windows, the returned values follow the actual network connectivity, unless "Work offline" mode is selected (where it will always return false).
[5] Faulty in a WebView component, see Issue bug 16760.
Notes
See Online/Offline Events for a more detailed description of this property as well as new offline-related features introduced in Firefox 3.