window.location.href and window.open () methods in JavaScript

masif picture masif · Aug 16, 2011 · Viewed 1.4M times · Source

What is the difference between window.location.href and window.open () methods in JavaScript?

Answer

James Hill picture James Hill · Aug 16, 2011

window.location.href is not a method, it's a property that will tell you the current URL location of the browser. Changing the value of the property will redirect the page.

window.open() is a method that you can pass a URL to that you want to open in a new window. For example:

window.location.href example:

window.location.href = 'http://www.google.com'; //Will take you to Google.

window.open() example:

window.open('http://www.google.com'); //This will open Google in a new window.

Additional Information:

window.open() can be passed additional parameters. See: window.open tutorial