Navigator.share()

Secure context: This feature is available only in secure contexts (HTTPS), in some or all supporting browsers.

The navigator.share() method of the Web Share API invokes the native sharing mechanism of the device to share data such as text, URLs, or files. The available share targets depend on the device, but might include the clipboard, contacts and email applications, websites, bluetooth, etc.

This method requires that the current document have the web-share permission policy and transient activation. (It must be triggered off a UI event like a button click and cannot be launched at arbitrary points by a script.) Further, the method must specify valid data that is supported for sharing by the native implementation.

The method resolves a Promise with undefined. On Windows this happens when the share popup is launched, while on Android the promise resolves once the data has successfully been passed to the share target.

Syntax

navigator.share(data)

Parameters

data

An object containing data to share.

Properties that are unknown to the user agent are ignored; share data is only assessed on properties understood by the user agent. All properties are optional but at least one known data property must be specified.

Possible values are:

  • url: A USVString representing a URL to be shared.
  • text: A USVString representing text to be shared.
  • title: A USVString representing a title to be shared. May be ignored by the target.
  • files: An array of File objects representing files to be shared. See below for shareable file types.

Return value

A Promise that resolves with undefined, or rejected with one of the Exceptions given below.

Exceptions

The Promise may be rejected with one of the following DOMException values:

NotAllowedError

The web-share permission has not been granted, or the window does not have transient activation, or a file share is being blocked due to security considerations.

TypeError

The specified share data cannot be validated. Possible reasons include:

  • The data parameter was omitted completely or only contains properties with unknown values. Note that any properties that are not recognized by the user agent are ignored.
  • A URL is badly formatted.
  • Files are specified but the implementation does not support file sharing.
  • Sharing the specified data would be considered a "hostile share" by the user-agent.
AbortError

The user canceled the share operation or there are no share targets available.

DataError

There was a problem starting the share target or transmitting the data.

Shareable file types

The following is a list of usually shareable file types. However, you should always test with navigator.canShare() if sharing would succeed.

  • Application
    • .pdf - application/pdf
  • Audio
    • .flac - audio/flac
    • .m4a - audio/x-m4a
    • .mp3 - audio/mpeg (also accepts audio/mp3)
    • .oga - audio/ogg
    • .ogg - audio/ogg
    • .opus - audio/ogg
    • .wav - audio/wav
    • .weba - audio/webm
  • Image
    • .bmp - image/bmp
    • .gif - image/gif
    • .ico - image/x-icon
    • .jfif - image/jpeg
    • .jpeg - image/jpeg
    • .jpg - image/jpeg
    • .pjp - image/jpeg
    • .pjpeg - image/jpeg
    • .png - image/png
    • .svg - image/svg+xml
    • .svgz - image/svg+xml
    • .tif - image/tiff
    • .tiff - image/tiff
    • .webp - image/webp
    • .xbm - image/x-xbitmap
  • Text
    • .css - text/css
    • .csv - text/csv
    • .ehtml - text/html
    • .htm - text/html
    • .html - text/html
    • .shtm - text/html
    • .shtml - text/html
    • .text - text/plain
    • .txt - text/plain
  • Video
    • .m4v - video/mp4
    • .mp4 - video/mp4
    • .mpeg - video/mpeg
    • .mpg - video/mpeg
    • .ogm - video/ogg
    • .ogv - video/ogg
    • .webm - video/webm

Examples

The example below shows a button click invoking the Web Share API to share MDN's URL. This is taken from our Web share test (see the source code).

HTML

The HTML just creates a button to trigger the share, and a paragraph in which to display the result of the test.

<p><button>Share MDN!</button></p>
<p class="result"></p>

JavaScript

const shareData = {
    title: 'MDN',
    text: 'Learn web development on MDN!',
    url: 'https://developer.mozilla.org'
  }

  const btn = document.querySelector('button');
  const resultPara = document.querySelector('.result');

  // Share must be triggered by "user activation"
  btn.addEventListener('click', async () => {
    try {
      await navigator.share(shareData)
      resultPara.textContent = 'MDN shared successfully'
    } catch(err) {
      resultPara.textContent = 'Error: ' + err
    }
  });

Result

Click the button to launch the share dialog on your platform. Text will appear below the button to indicate whether the share was successful or provide an error code.

Sharing Files

To share files, first test for and call navigator.canShare(). Then include an array of files in the call to navigator.share():

Note: This sample feature detects by testing for navigator.canShare() rather than for navigator.share(). The data object passed to canShare() only includes the files property. Image, video, audio, and text files can be shared. 

if (navigator.canShare && navigator.canShare({ files: filesArray })) {
  navigator.share({
    files: filesArray,
    title: 'Pictures',
    text: 'Our Pictures.',
  })
  .then(() => console.log('Share was successful.'))
  .catch((error) => console.log('Sharing failed', error));
} else {
  console.log(`Your system doesn't support sharing files.`);
}

Specifications

Specification
Web Share API
# share-method

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also