---
title: Intercepting Routes
description: Use intercepting routes to load a new route within the current layout while masking the browser URL, useful for advanced routing patterns such as modals.
url: "https://nextjs.org/docs/15/app/api-reference/file-conventions/intercepting-routes"
docs_index: /docs/15/llms.txt
lastUpdated: 2025-06-16
prerequisites:
  - "API Reference: /docs/15/app/api-reference"
  - "File-system conventions: /docs/15/app/api-reference/file-conventions"
related:
  - /docs/15/app/api-reference/file-conventions/parallel-routes
---

> For an index of all documentation, see [/docs/15/llms.txt](/docs/15/llms.txt).

Intercepting routes allows you to load a route from another part of your application within the current layout. This routing paradigm can be useful when you want to display the content of a route without the user switching to a different context.

For example, when clicking on a photo in a feed, you can display the photo in a modal, overlaying the feed. In this case, Next.js intercepts the `/photo/123` route, masks the URL, and overlays it over `/feed`.

![Intercepting routes soft navigation](/docs/light/intercepting-routes-soft-navigate.png)

However, when navigating to the photo by clicking a shareable URL or by refreshing the page, the entire photo page should render instead of the modal. No route interception should occur.

![Intercepting routes hard navigation](/docs/light/intercepting-routes-hard-navigate.png)

## Convention

Intercepting routes can be defined with the `(..)` convention, which is similar to relative path convention `../` but for route segments.

You can use:

- `(.)` to match segments on the **same level**
- `(..)` to match segments **one level above**
- `(..)(..)` to match segments **two levels above**
- `(...)` to match segments from the **root** `app` directory

For example, you can intercept the `photo` segment from within the `feed` segment by creating a `(..)photo` directory.

![Intercepting routes folder structure](/docs/light/intercepted-routes-files.png)

> **Good to know:**
>
> The `(..)` convention is based on *route segments*, not the file-system. For example, it does not consider `@slot` folders in [Parallel Routes](/docs/app/api-reference/file-conventions/parallel-routes).

## Examples

### Modals

Intercepting Routes can be used together with [Parallel Routes](/docs/app/api-reference/file-conventions/parallel-routes) to create modals. This allows you to solve common challenges when building modals, such as:

- Making the modal content **shareable through a URL**.
- **Preserving context** when the page is refreshed, instead of closing the modal.
- **Closing the modal on backwards navigation** rather than going to the previous route.
- **Reopening the modal on forwards navigation**.

Consider the following UI pattern, where a user can open a photo modal from a gallery using client-side navigation, or navigate to the photo page directly from a shareable URL:

![Intercepting routes modal example](/docs/light/intercepted-routes-modal-example.png)

In the above example, the path to the `photo` segment can use the `(..)` matcher since `@modal` is a slot and **not** a segment. This means that the `photo` route is only one segment level higher, despite being two file-system levels higher.

See the [Parallel Routes](/docs/app/api-reference/file-conventions/parallel-routes#modals) documentation for a step-by-step example, or see our [image gallery example](https://github.com/vercel-labs/nextgram).

> **Good to know:**
>
> - Other examples could include opening a login modal in a top navbar while also having a dedicated `/login` page, or opening a shopping cart in a side modal.

## Next Steps

Learn how to create modals with Intercepted and Parallel Routes.

---

For a semantic overview of all documentation, see [/sitemap.md](/sitemap.md)

For an index of all available documentation, see [/docs/15/llms.txt](/docs/15/llms.txt)