<link rel="prefetch">Limited availability
The rel="prefetch" attribute for the <link> HTML element is a hint to the browser that the user is likely to navigate to a resource, so the browser should preemptively fetch and cache the resource.
Not yet supported in all major browsers — check the table and provide a fallback.
Browser support
DesktopChrome
1–7Not supported
8+Supportedsince Dec 2, 2010
Current: 155Edge
12+Supportedsince Jul 29, 2015
Current: 154Firefox
1–1.5Not supported
2+Supportedsince Oct 24, 2006
Current: 157Safari
✕Not supportedup to 27
Current: 27MobileChrome Android
18+Supportedsince Jun 27, 2012
Current: 155Firefox Android
4+Supportedsince Mar 29, 2011
Current: 157Safari iOS
✕Not supportedup to 27
Current: 27How to use
Not supported in Safari, Safari iOS. Use feature detection below and provide a fallback (or a polyfill) for those browsers.
Example
Full syntax and examples are on MDN: prefetch.
Feature detection
JS · check before using
if ("rel" in document.createElement("link")) {
// the rel attribute/property of <link> is supported
}Documentation (MDN)
Specification
Usage share
Sub-features
Support for each part of the feature (4). The overall table above shows when the whole feature works.
| Sub-feature | Chrome | Edge | Firefox | Safari | Chrome Android | Firefox Android | Safari iOS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PerformanceResourceTiming.deliveryType.navigational-prefetch | 117 | 117 | ✕ | ✕ | 117 | ✕ | ✕ |
| link.rel.prefetch | 8 | 12 | 2 | ✕ | 18 | 4 | ✕ |
| http.headers.Sec-Purpose | 110 | 110 | 115 | ✕ | 110 | 115 | ✕ |
| http.headers.Sec-Purpose.prefetch | ✕ | ✕ | 115 | ✕ | ✕ | 115 | ✕ |