HTMLDialogElement: close() method

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since ⁨March 2022⁩.

The close() method of the HTMLDialogElement interface closes the <dialog>. An optional string may be passed as an argument, updating the returnValue of the dialog.

Syntax

close()
close(returnValue)

Parameters

returnValue Optional: A string representing an updated value for the HTMLDialogElement.returnValue of the dialog.

The following example shows a simple button that, when clicked, opens a <dialog> containing a form via the showModal() method. From there you can click the X button to close the dialog (via the HTMLDialogElement.close() method), or submit the form via the submit button.

html

<!-- Simple pop-up dialog box, containing a form -->
<dialog id="favDialog">
  <form method="dialog">
    <button id="close" aria-label="close" formnovalidate>X</button>
    <section>
      <p>
        <label for="favAnimal">Favorite animal:</label>
        <select id="favAnimal" name="favAnimal">
          <option></option>
          <option>Brine shrimp</option>
          <option>Red panda</option>
          <option>Spider monkey</option>
        </select>
      </p>
    </section>
    <menu>
      <button type="reset">Reset</button>
      <button type="submit">Confirm</button>
    </menu>
  </form>
</dialog>

<menu>
  <button id="updateDetails">Update details</button>
</menu>

const updateButton = document.getElementById("updateDetails");
const closeButton = document.getElementById("close");
const dialog = document.getElementById("favDialog");
dialog.returnValue = "favAnimal";

function openCheck(dialog) {
  if (dialog.open) {
    console.log("Dialog open");
  } else {
    console.log("Dialog closed");
  }
}

// Update button opens a modal dialog
updateButton.addEventListener("click", () => {
  dialog.showModal();
  openCheck(dialog);
});

// Form close button closes the dialog box
closeButton.addEventListener("click", () => {
  dialog.close("animalNotChosen");
  openCheck(dialog);
});

If the "X" button was of type="submit", the dialog would have closed without requiring JavaScript. A form submission closes the <dialog> it is nested within if the form's method is dialog, so no "close" button is required.