Referrer-Policy

In This Article

Syntax
Directives
Examples
Specifications
Browser compatibility
See also

The Referrer-Policy HTTP header governs which referrer information, sent in the Referer header, should be included with requests made.

Header type	Response header
Forbidden header name	no

Syntax

Note that Referer is actually a misspelling of the word "referrer". The Referrer-Policy header does not share this misspelling.

Referrer-Policy: no-referrer
Referrer-Policy: no-referrer-when-downgrade
Referrer-Policy: origin
Referrer-Policy: origin-when-cross-origin
Referrer-Policy: same-origin
Referrer-Policy: strict-origin
Referrer-Policy: strict-origin-when-cross-origin
Referrer-Policy: unsafe-url

Directives

no-referrer: The Referer header will be omitted entirely. No referrer information is sent along with requests.
no-referrer-when-downgrade (default): This is the user agent's default behavior if no policy is specified. The origin is sent as referrer to a-priori as-much-secure destination (HTTPS->HTTPS), but isn't sent to a less secure destination (HTTPS->HTTP).
origin: Only send the origin of the document as the referrer in all cases.
The document https://example.com/page.html will send the referrer https://example.com/.
origin-when-cross-origin: Send a full URL when performing a same-origin request, but only send the origin of the document for other cases.
same-origin: A referrer will be sent for same-site origins, but cross-origin requests will contain no referrer information.
strict-origin: Only send the origin of the document as the referrer to a-priori as-much-secure destination (HTTPS->HTTPS), but don't send it to a less secure destination (HTTPS->HTTP).
strict-origin-when-cross-origin: Send a full URL when performing a same-origin request, only send the origin of the document to a-priori as-much-secure destination (HTTPS->HTTPS), and send no header to a less secure destination (HTTPS->HTTP).
unsafe-url: Send a full URL (stripped from parameters) when performing a same-origin or cross-origin request.
This policy will leak origins and paths from TLS-protected resources to insecure origins. Carefully consider the impact of this setting.

Examples

Policy	Document	Navigation to	Referrer
`no-referrer`	https://example.com/page.html	any domain or path	no referrer
`no-referrer-when-downgrade`	https://example.com/page.html	https://example.com/otherpage.html	https://example.com/page.html
`no-referrer-when-downgrade`	https://example.com/page.html	https://mozilla.org	https://example.com/page.html
`no-referrer-when-downgrade`	https://example.com/page.html	http://example.org	no referrer
`origin`	https://example.com/page.html	any domain or path	https://example.com/
`origin-when-cross-origin`	https://example.com/page.html	https://example.com/otherpage.html	https://example.com/page.html
`origin-when-cross-origin`	https://example.com/page.html	https://mozilla.org	https://example.com/
`origin-when-cross-origin`	https://example.com/page.html	http://example.com/page.html	https://example.com/
`same-origin`	https://example.com/page.html	https://example.com/otherpage.html	https://example.com/page.html
`same-origin`	https://example.com/page.html	https://mozilla.org	no referrer
`strict-origin`	https://example.com/page.html	https://mozilla.org	https://example.com/
`strict-origin`	https://example.com/page.html	http://example.org	no referrer
`strict-origin`	http://example.com/page.html	any domain or path	http://example.com/
`strict-origin-when-cross-origin`	https://example.com/page.html	https://example.com/otherpage.html	https://example.com/page.html
`strict-origin-when-cross-origin`	https://example.com/page.html	https://mozilla.org	https://example.com/
`strict-origin-when-cross-origin`	https://example.com/page.html	http://example.org	no referrer
`unsafe-url`	https://example.com/page.html	any domain or path	https://example.com/page.html

Specifications

Specification	Status
Referrer Policy	Editor's draft

Feature	Chrome	Firefox	Edge	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari
Basic Support	56.0	50.0	(No)	(No)	(No)	(No)
same-origin	(No)¹	52.0	(No)	(No)	(No)	(No)
strict-origin	(No)¹	52.0	(No)	(No)	(No)	(No)
strict-origin-when-cross-origin	(No)¹	52.0	(No)	(No)	(No)	(No)

Feature	Android	Chrome for Android	Edge mobile	Firefox for Android	IE mobile	Opera Android	iOS Safari
Basic Support	56.0	(No)	(No)	50.0	(No)	(No)	(No)
same-origin	(No)	(No)	(No)	52.0	(No)	(No)	(No)
strict-origin	(No)	(No)	(No)	52.0	(No)	(No)	(No)
strict-origin-when-cross-origin	(No)	(No)	(No)	52.0	(No)	(No)	(No)

1. See Chromium bug 627968.

Note: From version 53 onwards, Gecko has a pref available in about:config to allow users to set their default Referrer-Policy — network.http.referer.userControlPolicy. Possible values are:

0 — no-referrer
1 — same-origin
2 — strict-origin-when-cross-origin
3 — no-referrer-when-downgrade (the default)

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Contributors to this page: ptamarit, fscholz, chrisdavidmills, lfaraone, pox

Last updated by: ptamarit, Jun 18, 2017, 7:23:00 AM