Can I pop up a confirmation dialog when the user is closing the window in Safari/Chrome?

Daniel Magliola picture Daniel Magliola · Apr 29, 2009 · Viewed 13.1k times · Source

In IE and FF, i can attach an event handler to onBeforeUnload, and by passing a string to a property of the event, the user will see a dialog asking him whether he wants to continue with the "unloading" (either closing the window or navigating away).

Safari and Chrome don't support onBeforeUnload, and onUnload seems to be too late. Is there some way to replicate the same functionality in Safari/Chrome?

NOTE: I'm not trying to keep the user hostage. I know this is nagging and un-cool. In fact, my site goes to great lengths to let the user go freely, and have everything in its place when they come back. However, I am hosting other sites inside IFrames, and sometimes these decide to get rid of me and take over the browser, which is what I'm trying to avoid.

Thanks!

Answer

RichieHindle picture RichieHindle · Apr 29, 2009

This works perfectly for me in both Chrome and Safari:

<html><body><p>Test</p>
<script>window.onbeforeunload = function() { return "Sure?"; }</script>
</body></html>

When I try to close the window, I get the prompt.