Disable F5 and browser refresh using JavaScript

Solution 1:

Update A recent comment claims this doesn't work in the new Chrome ... As shown in jsFiddle, and tested on my personal site, this method still works as of Chrome ver 26.0.1410.64 m

This is REALLY easy in jQuery by the way:

jsFiddle

// slight update to account for browsers not supporting e.which
function disableF5(e) { if ((e.which || e.keyCode) == 116) e.preventDefault(); };
// To disable f5
    /* jQuery < 1.7 */
$(document).bind("keydown", disableF5);
/* OR jQuery >= 1.7 */
$(document).on("keydown", disableF5);

// To re-enable f5
    /* jQuery < 1.7 */
$(document).unbind("keydown", disableF5);
/* OR jQuery >= 1.7 */
$(document).off("keydown", disableF5);

On a side note: This only disables the f5 button on the keyboard. To truly disable refresh you must use a server side script to check for page state changes. Can't say I really know how to do this as I haven't done it yet.

On the software site that I work at, we use my disableF5 function in conjunction with Codeigniter's session data. For instance, there is a lock button which will lock the screen and prompt a password dialog. The function "disableF5" is quick and easy and keeps that button from doing anything. However, to prevent the mouse-click on refresh button, a couple things take place.

1. When lock is clicked, user session data has a variable called "locked" that becomes TRUE
2. When the refresh button is clicked, on the master page load method is a check against session data for "locked", if TRUE, then we simple don't allow the redirect and the page never changes, regardless of requested destination

TIP: Try using a server-set cookie, such as PHP's $_SESSION, or even .Net's Response.Cookies, to maintain "where" your client is in your site. This is the more Vanilla way to do what I do with CI's Session class. The big difference being that CI uses a Table in your DB, whereas these vanilla methods store an editable cookie in the client. The downside though, is a user can clear its cookies.

Solution 2:

var ctrlKeyDown = false;

$(document).ready(function(){    
    $(document).on("keydown", keydown);
    $(document).on("keyup", keyup);
});

function keydown(e) { 

    if ((e.which || e.keyCode) == 116 || ((e.which || e.keyCode) == 82 && ctrlKeyDown)) {
        // Pressing F5 or Ctrl+R
        e.preventDefault();
    } else if ((e.which || e.keyCode) == 17) {
        // Pressing  only Ctrl
        ctrlKeyDown = true;
    }
};

function keyup(e){
    // Key up Ctrl
    if ((e.which || e.keyCode) == 17) 
        ctrlKeyDown = false;
};

Solution 3:

From the site Enrique posted:

window.history.forward(1);
document.attachEvent("onkeydown", my_onkeydown_handler);
function my_onkeydown_handler() {
    switch (event.keyCode) {
        case 116 : // 'F5'
            event.returnValue = false;
            event.keyCode = 0;
            window.status = "We have disabled F5";
            break;
    }
}

Solution 4:

for mac cmd+r, cmd+shift+r to need.

function disableF5(e) { if ((e.which || e.keyCode) == 116 || (e.which || e.keyCode) == 82) e.preventDefault(); };

$(document).ready(function(){
$(document).on("keydown", disableF5);
});

Solution 5:

Use this for modern browsers:

function my_onkeydown_handler( event ) {
    switch (event.keyCode) {
        case 116 : // 'F5'
            event.preventDefault();
            event.keyCode = 0;
            window.status = "F5 disabled";
            break;
    }
}
document.addEventListener("keydown", my_onkeydown_handler);