What Is The Noopener Attribute?

Date First Published: 2nd January 2023

Topic: Web Design & Development

Subtopic: Web Development

Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty Level: 8/10

Learn more about what the noopener attribute is in this article.

The noopener attribute is a HTML attribute used to prevent the external page from being able to gain access or tamper with the original page. It closes a browser security issue which allows an attacker have partial access to the previous page, called reverse tabnabbing. It is used when a link is set to open in a new tab with target="_blank". The security issue is that JavaScript code can be used to allow a new tab to get control of its referring window and linking to an external page with that malicious JavaScript code will allow the external website to use the window.opener property in JavaScript to modify the original page.

WordPress will automatically add this attribute to every external link that opens in a new tab, but if you are not using WordPress, it is recommended to add rel = "noopener" to every external link that opens in a new tab. An example of a noopener link can be seen below:

Note:

After the release of Chrome 88 on 19th January 2021, all links with target="_blank" are treated as noopener by default even if they do not have the noopener attribute.

Does Using The Noopener Attribute Have An Effect On SEO?

No, adding the noopener attribute does not lower or boost the ranking of pages in search engines. In fact, it is completely unrelated to SEO and has no effect on the way that search engine bots crawl or rank a website.