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FinalizationRegistry.prototype.unregister()

Baseline Widely available *

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since ⁨April 2021⁩.

* Some parts of this feature may have varying levels of support.

The unregister() method of FinalizationRegistry instances unregisters a target value from this FinalizationRegistry.

Syntax

unregister(unregisterToken)

Parameters

unregisterToken: The token used with the register() method when registering the target value. Multiple cells registered with the same unregisterToken will be unregistered together.

Return value

A boolean value that is true if at least one cell was unregistered and false if no cell was unregistered.

Exceptions

TypeError: Thrown if unregisterToken is not an object or a non-registered symbol.

Description

When a target value has been reclaimed, it is no longer registered in the registry. There is no need to call unregister in your cleanup callback. Only call unregister if you haven't received a cleanup callback and no longer need to receive one.

Examples

Using unregister

This example shows registering a target object using that same object as the unregister token, then later unregistering it via unregister:

class Thingy {
  static #cleanup = (label) => {
    //               ^^^^^−−−−− held value
    console.error(
      `The "release" method was never called for the object with the label "${label}"`,
    );
  };
  #registry = new FinalizationRegistry(Thingy.#cleanup);

  /**
   * Constructs a `Thingy` instance.
   * Be sure to call `release` when you're done with it.
   *
   * @param label A label for the `Thingy`.
   */
  constructor(label) {
    //                            vvvvv−−−−− held value
    this.#registry.register(this, label, this);
    //          target −−−−−^^^^         ^^^^−−−−− unregister token
  }

  /**
   * Releases resources held by this `Thingy` instance.
   */
  release() {
    this.#registry.unregister(this);
    //                        ^^^^−−−−− unregister token
  }
}

This example shows registering a target object using a different object as its unregister token:

class Thingy {
  static #cleanup = (file) => {
    //               ^^^^−−−−− held value
    console.error(
      `The "release" method was never called for the "Thingy" for the file "${file.name}"`,
    );
  };
  #registry = new FinalizationRegistry(Thingy.#cleanup);
  #file;

  /**
   * Constructs a `Thingy` instance for the given file.
   * Be sure to call `release` when you're done with it.
   *
   * @param filename The name of the file.
   */
  constructor(filename) {
    this.#file = File.open(filename);
    //                            vvvvv−−−−− held value
    this.#registry.register(this, label, this.#file);
    //          target −−−−−^^^^         ^^^^^^^^^^−−−−− unregister token
  }

  /**
   * Releases resources held by this `Thingy` instance.
   */
  release() {
    if (this.#file) {
      this.#registry.unregister(this.#file);
      //                        ^^^^^^^^^^−−−−− unregister token
      File.close(this.#file);
      this.#file = null;
    }
  }
}

Specifications

Specification
ECMAScript® 2026 Language Specification> # sec-finalization-registry.prototype.unregister>

Browser compatibility

	Desktop					Mobile							Server
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Opera	Safari	Chrome Android	Firefox for Android	Opera Android	Safari on IOS	Samsung Internet	WebView Android	WebView on iOS	Bun	Deno	Node.js
`unregister`	84	84	79	70	14.1	84	79	60	14.5	14.0	84	14.5	1.0.0	1.0	14.6.0
`symbol_as_target`	109	109	No	95	16.4	109	No	74	16.4	21.0	109	16.4	1.0.0	1.28	20.0.0