JavaScript hashchange Event

Summary: in this tutorial, you will learn about the JavaScript hashchange event and how to handle it effectively.

Introduction to the JavaScript hashchange event

The URL hash is everything that follows the pound sign (#) in the URL. For example, suppose that you have the following URL:

https://www.javascripttutorial.net/javascript-dom/javascript-hashchange/#headerCode language: JavaScript (javascript)

In this URL, the hash is header.

When the hash changes to footer, the hashchange event will fire:

https://www.javascripttutorial.net/javascript-dom/javascript-hashchange/#footerCode language: JavaScript (javascript)

In this example, the hash changes from #header to #footer.

To attach an event listener to the hashchange event, you call the addEventListener() method on the window object:

window.addEventListener('hashchange',() =>{
    console.log('The URL has has changed');
});Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

To get the current URL hash, you access the hash property of the location object:

window.addEventListener('hashchange',() => {
    console.log(`The current URL hash is ${location.hash}`);
});Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Additionally, you can handle the hashchange event by assigning an event listener to the onhashchange property of the window object:

window.onhashchange = () => {
    // handle hashchange event here
};Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

JavaScript hashchange event example

The hashchange event can be useful for creating a single-page application (SPA) or updating content dynamically without reloading the whole page.

The following example shows how to use the hashchange event to update the content of a div based on the URL hash.

First, create a simple HTML file (index.html) with some navigation links and a main section:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
    <head>
        <meta charset="UTF-8">
        <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
        <title>JavaScript HashChange Example</title>
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="css/style.css">
        <script src="js/app.js" defer></script>
    </head>
    <body>
        <header>
            <nav>
                <a href="#home">Home</a>
                <a href="#about">About</a>
                <a href="#contact">Contact</a>
            </nav>
        </header>
        <main id="content">
            <h1>HashChange Event Demo!</h1>
            <p>Click the links above to change the content.</p>
        </main>
    </body>
</html>Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

Second, crate a JavaScript file app.js that handles the hashchange event and updates the content respectively:

const updateContent = () => {
  const content = document.getElementById('content');
  const hash = window.location.hash.substring(1); // Remove the '#' from the hash

  switch (hash) {
    case 'home':
      content.innerHTML = `
          <h1>Home</h1>
          <p>Welcome to the home page.</p>
        `;
      break;
    case 'about':
      content.innerHTML = `
          <h1>About</h1>
          <p>Learn more about us on this page.</p>
        `;
      break;
    case 'contact':
      content.innerHTML = `
          <h1>Contact</h1>
          <p>Get in touch with us.</p>
        `;
      break;
  }
};

// Event listener for hashchange
window.addEventListener('hashchange', updateContent);
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Output:

Summary

The hashchange event fires when the URL hash changes.
To register an event handler, you call the addEventListener() method or assign an event handler to the onhashchange property of the window object.

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