WEBGL_lose_context: loseContext() method

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since April 2018.

The loseContext() method of the WEBGL_lose_context extension is part of the WebGL API and allows you to simulate losing the context of a WebGLRenderingContext.

It triggers the steps described in the WebGL specification for handling context lost. The context will remain lost until WEBGL_lose_context.restoreContext() is called. It also destroys the underlying graphics context and all graphics resources. This is the recommended mechanism for applications to programmatically halt their use of the WebGL API.

Syntax

js
loseContext()

Parameters

None.

Return value

None (undefined).

Examples

With this method, you can simulate the webglcontextlost event:

js
const canvas = document.getElementById("canvas");
const gl = canvas.getContext("webgl");

canvas.addEventListener("webglcontextlost", (e) => {
  console.log(e);
});

gl.getExtension("WEBGL_lose_context").loseContext();

// WebGLContextEvent event with type "webglcontextlost" is logged.

Specifications

Specification
WebGL WEBGL_lose_context Khronos Ratified Extension Specification

Browser compatibility

See also