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HTML Event Attributes


Global Event Attributes

HTML has the ability to let events trigger actions in a browser, like starting a JavaScript when a user clicks on an element.

To learn more about programming events, please visit our JavaScript tutorial.

Below are the global event attributes that can be added to HTML elements to define event actions.


Window Event Attributes

Events triggered for the window object (applies to the <body> tag):

Attribute Value Description
onafterprint script Script to be run after the document is printed
onbeforeprint script Script to be run before the document is printed
onbeforeunload script Script to be run when the document is about to be unloaded
onerror script Script to be run when an error occurs
onhashchange script Script to be run when there has been changes to the anchor part of the a URL
onload script Fires after the page is finished loading
onmessage script Script to be run when the message is triggered
onoffline script Script to be run when the browser starts to work offline
ononline script Script to be run when the browser starts to work online
onpagehide script Script to be run when a user navigates away from a page
onpageshow script Script to be run when a user navigates to a page
onpopstate script Script to be run when the window's history changes
onresize script Fires when the browser window is resized
onstorage script Script to be run when a Web Storage area is updated
onunload script Fires once a page has unloaded (or the browser window has been closed)


Form Events

Events triggered by actions inside a HTML form (applies to almost all HTML elements, but is most used in form elements):

Attribute Value Description
onblur script Fires the moment that the element loses focus
onchange script Fires the moment when the value of the element is changed
oncontextmenu script Script to be run when a context menu is triggered
onfocus script Fires the moment when the element gets focus
oninput script Script to be run when an element gets user input
oninvalid script Script to be run when an element is invalid
onreset script Fires when the Reset button in a form is clicked
onsearch script Fires when the user writes something in a search field (for <input="search">)
onselect script Fires after some text has been selected in an element
onsubmit script Fires when a form is submitted

Keyboard Events

Attribute Value Description
onkeydown script Fires when a user is pressing a key
onkeypress script Fires when a user presses a key
onkeyup script Fires when a user releases a key

Mouse Events

Attribute Value Description
onclick script Fires on a mouse click on the element
ondblclick script Fires on a mouse double-click on the element
onmousedown script Fires when a mouse button is pressed down on an element
onmousemove script Fires when the mouse pointer is moving while it is over an element
onmouseout script Fires when the mouse pointer moves out of an element
onmouseover script Fires when the mouse pointer moves over an element
onmouseup script Fires when a mouse button is released over an element
onmousewheel script Deprecated. Use the onwheel attribute instead
onwheel script Fires when the mouse wheel rolls up or down over an element

Drag Events

Attribute Value Description
ondrag script Script to be run when an element is dragged
ondragend script Script to be run at the end of a drag operation
ondragenter script Script to be run when an element has been dragged to a valid drop target
ondragleave script Script to be run when an element leaves a valid drop target
ondragover script Script to be run when an element is being dragged over a valid drop target
ondragstart script Script to be run at the start of a drag operation
ondrop script Script to be run when dragged element is being dropped
onscroll script Script to be run when an element's scrollbar is being scrolled

Clipboard Events

Attribute Value Description
oncopy script Fires when the user copies the content of an element
oncut script Fires when the user cuts the content of an element
onpaste script Fires when the user pastes some content in an element

Media Events

Events triggered by medias like videos, images and audio (applies to all HTML elements, but is most common in media elements, like <audio>, <embed>, <img>, <object>, and <video>).

Tip: Look at our HTML Audio and Video DOM Reference for more information.

Attribute Value Description
onabort script Script to be run on abort
oncanplay script Script to be run when a file is ready to start playing (when it has buffered enough to begin)
oncanplaythrough script Script to be run when a file can be played all the way to the end without pausing for buffering
oncuechange script Script to be run when the cue changes in a <track> element
ondurationchange script Script to be run when the length of the media changes
onemptied script Script to be run when something bad happens and the file is suddenly unavailable (like unexpectedly disconnects)
onended script Script to be run when the media has reach the end (a useful event for messages like "thanks for listening")
onerror script Script to be run when an error occurs when the file is being loaded
onloadeddata script Script to be run when media data is loaded
onloadedmetadata script Script to be run when meta data (like dimensions and duration) are loaded
onloadstart script Script to be run just as the file begins to load before anything is actually loaded
onpause script Script to be run when the media is paused either by the user or programmatically
onplay script Script to be run when the media is ready to start playing
onplaying script Script to be run when the media actually has started playing
onprogress script Script to be run when the browser is in the process of getting the media data
onratechange script Script to be run each time the playback rate changes (like when a user switches to a slow motion or fast forward mode)
onseeked script Script to be run when the seeking attribute is set to false indicating that seeking has ended
onseeking script Script to be run when the seeking attribute is set to true indicating that seeking is active
onstalled script Script to be run when the browser is unable to fetch the media data for whatever reason
onsuspend script Script to be run when fetching the media data is stopped before it is completely loaded for whatever reason
ontimeupdate script Script to be run when the playing position has changed (like when the user fast forwards to a different point in the media)
onvolumechange script Script to be run each time the volume is changed which (includes setting the volume to "mute")
onwaiting script Script to be run when the media has paused but is expected to resume (like when the media pauses to buffer more data)

Misc Events

Attribute Value Description
ontoggle script Fires when the user opens or closes the <details> element