SyntaxError: label not found

The JavaScript exception "label not found" occurs when a {{jsxref("Statements/break", "break")}} or {{jsxref("Statements/continue", "continue")}} statement references a label that does not exist on any statement that contains the break or continue statement.

Message#

SyntaxError: Undefined label 'label' (V8-based)
SyntaxError: label not found (Firefox)
SyntaxError: Cannot use the undeclared label 'label'. (Safari)

Error type#

{{jsxref("SyntaxError")}}.

What went wrong?#

In JavaScript, labels are very limited: you can only use them with {{jsxref("Statements/break", "break")}} and {{jsxref("Statements/continue", "continue")}} statements, and you can only jump to them from a statement contained within the labeled statement. You cannot jump to this label from anywhere in the program.

Examples#

Unsyntactic jump#

You cannot use labels as if they are goto.

```js-nolint example-bad start: console.log("Hello, world!"); console.log("Do it again"); break start;

Instead, you can only use labels to enhance the normal semantics of `break` and `continue` statements.

```js example-good
start: {
  console.log("Hello, world!");
  if (Math.random() > 0.5) {
    break start;
  }
  console.log("Maybe I'm logged");
}

See also#

• Labeled statement