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 type="button" id="close" aria-label="close">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>       <li>         <button type="reset">Reset</button>       </li>       <li>         <button type="submit">Confirm</button>       </li>     </menu>   </form> </dialog>  <button id="updateDetails">Update details</button>

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.