JavaScript | window.location and document.location Objects

Last Updated : 13 May, 2020

window.location and document.location: These objects are used for getting the URL (the current or present page address) and avert browser to a new page or window. The main difference between both is their compatibility with the browsers.

The window.location is read/write on all compliant browsers.
The document.location is read-only in Internet Explorer but read/write in Firefox, SeaMonkey that are Gecko-based browsers.

All modern browsers map document.location to the window.location but you can prefer window.location for cross-browser safety.

Syntax:

window.location.href: It returns the URL of the current working page.
window.location.hostname: It returns the domain name of web host.
window.location.pathname: It returns the path and filename of the current working page.
window.location.protocol: It returns the used protocol (http: or https:).
window.location.port(): It prints the port number.
window.location.host(): It prints host name along with port number.
window.location.assign(): It loads new document.

Example 1: This example using different properties to get different parts of URL.

<!DOCTYPE html> 
<html lang="en"> 
  
<head> 
    <title>Get Different Part of a URL</title> 
</head> 
  
<body> 
    <script> 
  
        // Prints complete URL 
        document.write("URL IS:  " 
                + window.location.href + "<br>"); 
  
        // Prints hostname like local host (www.example.com) 
        document.write("HOSTNAME:  " 
                + window.location.hostname + "<br>"); 
  
        // Prints pathname like /products/find.php 
        document.write("PATHNAME:  " 
                + window.location.pathname + "<br>"); 
  
        // Prints the protocol used like http: or https: 
        document.write("PROTOCOL:  " 
                + window.location.protocol + "<br>"); 
  
        // Prints hostname with port like localhost:3000 
        document.write("HOSTNAME WITH PORT:  " 
                + window.location.host + "<br>"); 
  
        // Prints port number like 3000 
        document.write("PORTNUMBER:  " 
                + window.location.port + "<br>"); 
    </script> 
</body> 
  
</html> 

Output:

URL IS: https://ide.geeksforgeeks.org/tryit.php
HOSTNAME: ide.geeksforgeeks.org
PATHNAME: /tryit.php
PROTOCOL: https:
HOSTNAME WITH PORT: ide.geeksforgeeks.org
PORTNUMBER:

Note: When you visit a specific website, it is always connected to a port. However, most browsers will not display the default port number.

Example 2: Assign or load new document.

<!DOCTYPE html> 
<html lang="en"> 
  
<head> 
    <title> 
        Load another Resource or  
        document from a URL 
    </title> 
  
    <script> 
        function loadPage() { 
            window.location.assign( 
                "https://ide.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
        } 
    </script> 
</head> 
  
<body> 
    <button type="button" onclick="loadPage();"> 
        Load Page 
    </button> 
</body> 
  
</html>   