---
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.
related:
  title: Next Steps
  description: Learn how to create modals with Intercepted and Parallel Routes.
  links:
    - app/api-reference/file-conventions/parallel-routes
---

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`.

<Image
  alt="Intercepting routes soft navigation"
  srcLight="/docs/light/intercepting-routes-soft-navigate.png"
  srcDark="/docs/dark/intercepting-routes-soft-navigate.png"
  width="1600"
  height="617"
/>

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.

<Image
  alt="Intercepting routes hard navigation"
  srcLight="/docs/light/intercepting-routes-hard-navigate.png"
  srcDark="/docs/dark/intercepting-routes-hard-navigate.png"
  width="1600"
  height="604"
/>

## 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.

<Image
  alt="Intercepting routes folder structure"
  srcLight="/docs/light/intercepted-routes-files.png"
  srcDark="/docs/dark/intercepted-routes-files.png"
  width="1600"
  height="604"
/>

> **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:

<Image
  alt="Intercepting routes modal example"
  srcLight="/docs/light/intercepted-routes-modal-example.png"
  srcDark="/docs/dark/intercepted-routes-modal-example.png"
  width="1600"
  height="976"
/>

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.