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HTML <script> async Attribute

The async attribute on a <script> tag specifies that the script is executed asynchronously, that is, whenever it is available -- irrespective of the page load progress.

This only works for external scripts.

Example

#

An async attribute on a <script> element.

<script src="/tutorial/script-async.js" async>
</script>

Script file

Here is the script-async.js script file. It displays an alert box when executed.

alert("This alert is executed asynchronously.");

Using async

The async attribute specifies that the script file is executed once it is available.

This attribute only works with external script files, and only when src attribute is present.

External script files can be executed in the following 3 ways:

  • no attribute - Default: the script is fetched an executed right away, even before the page loads.
  • async - Asynchronously: the script will be executed when available, as the page loads.
  • defer - Deferred: executes the script only when the page has been completely loaded.

Syntax

<script src="URL" async>

Browser support

Here is when async support started for each browser:

Chrome
8.0 Dec 2010
Firefox
3.6 Jan 2010
IE/Edge
10.0 Sep 2012
Opera
15.0 May 2013
Safari
5.1 Oct 2011

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Author: Jack Poorte
Published: Jun 20 2021
Last Reviewed: Sep 30 2023


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