BroadcastChannel

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.

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The BroadcastChannel interface represents a named channel that any browsing context of a given origin can subscribe to. It allows communication between different documents (in different windows, tabs, frames or iframes) of the same origin. Messages are broadcasted via a message event fired at all BroadcastChannel objects listening to the channel, except the object that sent the message.

Constructor

BroadcastChannel()

Creates an object linking to the named channel.

Instance properties

This interface also inherits properties from its parent, EventTarget.

BroadcastChannel.name Read only

Returns a string, the name of the channel.

Instance methods

This interface also inherits methods from its parent, EventTarget.

BroadcastChannel.postMessage()

Sends the message, of any type of object, to each BroadcastChannel object listening to the same channel.

BroadcastChannel.close()

Closes the channel object, indicating it won't get any new messages, and allowing it to be, eventually, garbage collected.

Events

This interface also inherits events from its parent, EventTarget.

message

Fired when a message arrives on the channel. Also available via the onmessage property.

messageerror

Fired when a message arrives that can't be deserialized. Also available via the onmessageerror property.

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• Another, more heavyweight, way of communicating between browser contexts: ServiceWorker.
• Broadcast Channel API overview