Programmatically go back to previous ViewController in Swift

Question

I send the user over to a page on a button click. This page is a UITableViewController.

Now if the user taps on a cell, I would like to push him back to the previous page.

I thought about something like self.performSegue("back").... but this seems to be a bad idea.

What is the correct way to do it?

self.navigationController?.popViewControllerAnimated(true) – Kalpesh Feb 27 '15 at 08:31 — Kalpesh, Feb 27 '15 at 08:31

score 628 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 11 '21 at 23:01

628

Swift 3:

If you want to go back to the previous view controller

_ = navigationController?.popViewController(animated: true)

If you want to go back to the root view controller

_ = navigationController?.popToRootViewController(animated: true)

If you are not using a navigation controller then pls use the below code.

self.dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)

animation value you can set according to your requirement.

edited Oct 11 '21 at 23:01

midhun p

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answered Feb 27 '15 at 09:03

Praveen Gowda I V

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1

How can I send data back to previousController when the cell is tapped? if we are using the navigationController?.popViewControllerAnimated(true) – JDDelgado Sep 17 '15 at 02:07
4

@JDDelgado This is how you send the data back with the user, http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12561735/what-are-unwind-segues-for-and-how-do-you-use-them – Mohamad Kaakati Oct 18 '15 at 18:13
36

For Swift 3 it is `.popViewController(animated: true)` – Sasho Oct 05 '16 at 08:37
10

To shush any warnings: `_ = self.navigationController?.popToRootViewController(animated: true)` – Andrew K Oct 29 '16 at 17:45
Why did we need to shush it? I shushed it your way @andrew – VBaarathi Oct 30 '16 at 00:47
1

We are ignoring the return value; `_ = ` is the convention in swift for that. – Andrew K Oct 30 '16 at 16:10
This will only work if viewcontroller is pushed from navigationcontroller. Please refer to this https://stackoverflow.com/questions/38741556/ios-how-to-simple-return-back-to-previous-presented-pushed-view-controller-progr/38741669#38741669 – Prajeet Shrestha Nov 13 '17 at 08:15
how can I do it with the next library https://github.com/jonkykong/SideMenu ? I want to hide the side menu controller programmatically and get back to root view but I don't how to do it... – user924 Apr 20 '19 at 19:34
is it possible to pass data to the view controller we are returning to ? (i.e : you fill a text field and wish to pass the value to the previous view controller) ? – LEKYSMA Jul 08 '20 at 17:59
Calling this "early" (e.g. in `viewDidLoad`) won't abort the overall `UIViewController` setup, it doesn't go back to the other `UIViewController` until `viewDidAppear` has finished! – Neph Apr 19 '21 at 13:50

score 62 · Answer 2 · edited Dec 15 '17 at 07:49

62

Swift 3, Swift 4

if movetoroot { 
    navigationController?.popToRootViewController(animated: true)
} else {
    navigationController?.popViewController(animated: true)
}

navigationController is optional because there might not be one.

edited Dec 15 '17 at 07:49

Community

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answered Oct 18 '16 at 11:35

Vyacheslav

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@Vyacheslva i am getting an error "implicit use of 'seft' in closure, use 'self' to make capture semantics explicit" – Sandip Subedi Apr 20 '17 at 03:05
@SandipSubedi use `[weak self]` and `self?.navigationController?.` – Vyacheslav Apr 20 '17 at 10:00
this was useful But I want to send some variables with navigation But now I can't - I used ```override func prepare(for segue: UIStoryboardSegue, sender: Any?) { if let vc = segue.destination as?``` But when I using this I can't use that – Saeed Rahmatolahi Jan 02 '18 at 12:58
how to add navigationController then? – user25 Feb 28 '18 at 13:07
@user25 add? what do you mean? – Vyacheslav Feb 28 '18 at 16:45
@user25 the `navigationController` is implicitly referring to `self.navigationController`, so you need to implement the `UINavigationControllerDelegate` to use this – MK Yung Nov 07 '18 at 14:14

score 40 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 28 '17 at 16:04

40

Swift 3

I might be late in the answer but for swift 3 you can do it this way:

override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()

    navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = UIBarButtonItem(title: "< Back", style: .plain, target: self, action: #selector(backAction))

    // Do any additional setup if required.
}

func backAction(){
    //print("Back Button Clicked")
    dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)
}

answered Jan 28 '17 at 16:04

Fullpower

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That's not 'fully' correct. If you present a view controller that contains its own navigation, and after you push a view controller use that method `dismiss:` it will not only dismiss the current view controller, but also the root view controller, and it's not what was asked here. – Ernesto Fernandez Feb 02 '17 at 12:16
2

The question did not ask if the user had a navigation controller. This is the simplest and best answer for no navigation controller. This should really be the accepted answer. – Droid Chris Feb 05 '17 at 05:25
Thanks Droid - Hi ernestofndz, you might be right in saying that the rootVC will also be dismissed, but this does not happen with me, it only dismisses the currentVC, i am adding and removing items programmatically, and it might not be the same approach with the normal adding elements on storyboard.. correct my understanding if i am wrong... for the tableView if user needs to pass details to another View then this is another case and has no linkage to what i have posted and will 100% agree with you..what i understood was that a Back button is required in this case :) – Fullpower Feb 08 '17 at 13:10
maybe u can add a little introduction.. because exist dismiss & navigationController?.popViewController – marlonpya Sep 11 '17 at 15:24
`dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)` doesn't work after rotation! – user924 Aug 07 '18 at 06:56
it works great if you are coming without a seque, say by reference to a story board and a view controller in it... – DragonFire Jul 11 '19 at 09:49

midhun p · Answer 4 · 2023-07-12T08:35:56.967

40

swift 5 and above

case 1 : using with Navigation controller

Back to the previous view controller

 self.navigationController?.popViewController(animated: true)

Back to the root view controller

self.navigationController?.popToRootViewController(animated: true)

case 2 : using with present view controller

self.dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)

edited Jul 12 '23 at 08:35

answered Apr 25 '19 at 10:51

midhun p

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score 38 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 13 '18 at 09:02

Swift 4

there's two ways to return/back to the previous ViewController :

First case : if you used : self.navigationController?.pushViewController(yourViewController, animated: true) in this case you need to use self.navigationController?.popViewController(animated: true)
Second case : if you used : self.present(yourViewController, animated: true, completion: nil) in this case you need to use self.dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)

In the first case , be sure that you embedded your ViewController to a navigationController in your storyboard

score 24 · Answer 6 · answered Mar 14 '18 at 05:11

24

In the case where you presented a UIViewController from within a UIViewController i.e...

// Main View Controller
self.present(otherViewController, animated: true)

Simply call the dismiss function:

// Other View Controller
self.dismiss(animated: true)

answered Mar 14 '18 at 05:11

spencer.sm

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`self.dismiss(animated: true)` - doesn't work after rotation – user924 Aug 07 '18 at 06:56

score 11 · Answer 7 · answered Jan 28 '17 at 16:30

If Segue is Kind of 'Show' or 'Push' then You can invoke "popViewController(animated: Bool)" on Instance of UINavigationController. Or if segue is kind of "present" then call "dismiss(animated: Bool, completion: (() -> Void)?)" with instance of UIViewController

score 7 · Answer 8 · answered Apr 08 '17 at 20:02

7

for swift 3 you just need to write the following line of code

_ = navigationController?.popViewController(animated: true)

answered Apr 08 '17 at 20:02

Amr Angry

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Igor Samtsevich · Answer 9 · 2019-10-08T05:14:11.470

4

This one works for me (Swift UI)

struct DetailView: View {
@Environment(\.presentationMode) var presentationMode: Binding<PresentationMode>

  var body: some View {
      VStack {
        Text("This is the detail view")
        Button(action: {
          self.presentationMode.wrappedValue.dismiss()
        }) {
          Text("Back")
        }
      }
    }
}

edited Oct 08 '19 at 05:14

answered Oct 06 '19 at 07:55

Igor Samtsevich

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Ahsan · Answer 10 · 2018-09-16T19:21:49.593

3

Try this: for the previous view use this:

navigationController?.popViewController(animated: true)

pop to root use this code:

navigationController?.popToRootViewController(animated: true)

edited Sep 16 '18 at 19:21

answered Sep 11 '18 at 13:11

Ahsan

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score 2 · Answer 11 · answered Oct 13 '18 at 18:00

Swift 4.0 Xcode 10.0 with a TabViewController as last view

If your last ViewController is embebed in a TabViewController the below code will send you to the root...

navigationController?.popToRootViewController(animated: true)
navigationController?.popViewController(animated: true)

But If you really want to go back to the last view (That could be Tab1, Tab2 or Tab3 view..)you have to write the below code:

_ = self.navigationController?.popViewController(animated: true)

This works for me, i was using a view after one of my TabView :)

score 2 · Answer 12 · answered May 28 '20 at 16:50

I would like to suggest another approach to this problem. Instead of using the navigation controller to pop a view controller, use unwind segues. This solution has a few, but really important, advantages:

The origin controller can go back to any other destination controller (not just the previous one) without knowing anything about the destination.
Push and pop segues are defined in storyboard, so no navigation code in your view controllers.

You can find more details in Unwind Segues Step-by-Step. The how to is better explained in the former link, including how to send data back, but here I will make a brief explanation.

1) Go to the destination (not the origin) view controller and add an unwind segue:

    @IBAction func unwindToContact(_ unwindSegue: UIStoryboardSegue) {
        //let sourceViewController = unwindSegue.source
        // Use data from the view controller which initiated the unwind segue
    }

2) CTRL drag from the view controller itself to the exit icon in the origin view controller:

3) Select the unwind function you just created a few moments ago:

4) Select the unwind segue and give it a name:

5) Go to any place of the origin view controller and call the unwind segue:

performSegue(withIdentifier: "unwindToContact", sender: self)

I have found this approach payoffs a lot when your navigation starts to get complicated.

I hope this helps someone.

score 1 · Answer 13 · answered Dec 13 '18 at 07:03

For questions regarding how to embed your viewController to a navigationController in the storyboard:

Open your storyboard where your different viewController are located
Tap the viewController you would like your navigation controller to start from
On the top of Xcode, tap "Editor"
-> Tap embed in
-> Tap "Navigation Controller

score 0 · Answer 14 · answered Feb 26 '20 at 07:32

I did it like this

func showAlert() {
    let alert = UIAlertController(title: "Thanks!", message: "We'll get back to you as soon as posible.", preferredStyle: .alert)

    alert.addAction(UIAlertAction(title: "OK", style: .default, handler: { action in
        self.dismissView()
    }))

    self.present(alert, animated: true)
}

func dismissView() {
    navigationController?.popViewController(animated: true)
    dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)
}

score 0 · Answer 15 · answered Jul 13 '22 at 18:15

0

If you want to close previous two view controllers just call popViewController two times like this way:

self.navigationController?.popViewController(animated: true)
self.navigationController?.popViewController(animated: true)

answered Jul 13 '22 at 18:15

Clean Coder

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score -4 · Answer 16 · answered Apr 05 '17 at 18:47

-4

I can redirect to root page by writing code in "viewDidDisappear" of navigated controller,

override func viewDidDisappear(_ animated: Bool) { self.navigationController?.popToRootViewController(animated: true) }

answered Apr 05 '17 at 18:47

Mahe

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This causes the navigation controller to pop to the root, even if you want to move forward in the hierarchy. – swiftyboi Apr 21 '17 at 20:43

Programmatically go back to previous ViewController in Swift

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