How to update the URL without page reload in JavaScript

HTML5 History API provides pushState() and replaceState() methods that are used to add and modify the browser history records without reloading the page, respectively.

Note that the History API only allows updating same-origin URLs. You cannot use it to navigate to a completely different website.

pushState() method

The pushState() method updates the URL and creates a new entry in the browser history without page reload.

Here is how it looks like:

history.pushState(state, title, url);

The state is an object containing some data related to the new URL. It can be retrieved using JavaScript history.state property.

The title is the new page title that the browser should display. However, it is sometimes completely ignored by the browser.

Finally, the url is the new URL you want to add to the browser history without reloading the page.

Here is an example:

history.pushState({
    id: 'about-me',
    source: 'web'
}, 'About me', 'https://attacomsian.com');

replaceState() method

The replaceState() is another method that updates the URL without reloading the page. It works exactly the same way as pushState(), but replaces the existing browser history entry instead of adding a new one.

Ideally, you should use this method only when you want to change the URL without leaving any trace in browser history:

history.replaceState({
    id: 'JavaScript Tutorials',
    source: 'web'
}, 'All JavaScript Tutorials', 'https://attacomsian.com/topics/javascript');

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