javascript beforeunload detect refresh versus close

Question

Using the following function is it possible to detect which button the user has pressed the refresh button or the close button? If not is there another way?

Answer 1

The simple answer is no - browsers' security models do not allow you to explicitly detect in what way a user has chosen to leave your page (refresh / close / internal link / external link).

detect refresh browser for unload/beforeunload when browser closed

It is possible - using a cookie - to check when a user loads your page whether they were previously on that site in the same session - e.g. detect if they have refreshed - but not before they refresh:

Detect Browser Refresh in Javascript

Check if page gets reloaded or refreshed in Javascript

A partial and imperfect approach would be to detect whether they pressed "F5" or "Ctrl+R" or "Cmd+R" (keyboard shortcuts for refresh) just before the page unload. This will detect some refreshes, but not where the user actually clicked the refresh button.

(function($) {
    var refreshKeyPressed = false;
    var modifierPressed = false;

    var f5key = 116;
    var rkey = 82;
    var modkey = [17, 224, 91, 93];

    // Check for refresh keys
    $(document).bind(
        'keydown',
        function(evt) {
            // Check for refresh
            if (evt.which == f5key || window.modifierPressed && evt.which == rkey) {
                refreshKeyPressed = true;
            }

            // Check for modifier
            if (modkey.indexOf(evt.which) >= 0) {
                modifierPressed = true;
            }
        }
    );

    // Check for refresh keys
    $(document).bind(
        'keyup',
        function(evt) {
            // Check undo keys
            if (evt.which == f5key || evt.which == rkey) {
                refreshKeyPressed = false;
            }

            // Check for modifier
            if (modkey.indexOf(evt.which) >= 0) {
                modifierPressed = false;
            }
        }
    );

    $(window).bind('beforeunload', function(event) {
        var message = "not refreshed";

        if (refreshKeyPressed) {
            message = "refreshed";
        }

        event.returnValue = message;
        return message;
    });
}(jQuery));

You can also detect when a link is clicked whether the target of the link is on the same site or not: How can I detect when the user is leaving my site, not just going to a different page?