HTML Event Attributes HTML Reference



Global Event Attributes

HTML 4 added the ability to let events trigger actions in a browser, like starting a JavaScript when a user clicks on an element.

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

New : New event attributes in HTML5.


Window Event Attributes

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

Attribute HTML4 HTML5 Description
onafterprint Script to be run after the document is printed
onbeforeprint Script to be run before the document is printed
onbeforeunload Script to be run before the document is unloaded
onerror Script to be run when an error occur
onhaschange Script to be run when the document has changed
onload Fires after the page is finished loading
onmessage Script to be run when the message is triggered
onoffline Script to be run when the document goes offline
ononline Script to be run when the document comes online
onpagehide Script to be run when the window is hidden
onpageshow Script to be run when the window becomes visible
onpopstate Script to be run when the window's history changes
onredo Script to be run when the document performs a redo
onresize Fires when the browser window is resized
onstorage Script to be run when a Web Storage area is updated
onundo Script to be run when the document performs an undo
onunload 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 HTML4 HTML5 Description
onblur Fires the moment that the element loses focus
onchange Fires the moment when the value of the element is changed
oncontextmenu Script to be run when a context menu is triggered
onfocus Fires the moment when the element gets focus
onformchange Script to be run when a form changes
onforminput Script to be run when a form gets user input
oninput Script to be run when an element gets user input
oninvalid Script to be run when an element is invalid
onreset Fires when the Reset button in a form is clicked
Not supported in HTML5
onselect Fires after some text has been selected in an element
onsubmit Fires when a form is submitted

Keyboard Events

Attribute HTML4 HTML5 Description
onkeydown Fires when a user is pressing a key
onkeypress Fires when a user presses a key
onkeyup Fires when a user releases a key

Mouse Events

Events triggered by a mouse, or similar user actions:

Attribute HTML4 HTML5 Description
onclick Fires on a mouse click on the element
ondblclick Fires on a mouse double-click on the element
ondrag Script to be run when an element is dragged
ondragend Script to be run at the end of a drag operation
ondragenter Script to be run when an element has been dragged to a valid drop target
ondragleave Script to be run when an element leaves a valid drop target
ondragover Script to be run when an element is being dragged over a valid drop target
ondragstart Script to be run at the start of a drag operation
ondrop Script to be run when dragged element is being dropped
onmousedown Fires when a mouse button is pressed down on an element
onmousemove Fires when the mouse pointer moves over an element
onmouseout Fires when the mouse pointer moves out of an element
onmouseover Fires when the mouse pointer moves over an element
onmouseup Fires when a mouse button is released over an element
onmousewheel Script to be run when the mouse wheel is being rotated
onscroll Script to be run when an element's scrollbar is being scrolled

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>):

Attribute HTML4 HTML5 Description
onabort Script to be run on abort
oncanplay Script to be run when a file is ready to start playing (when it has buffered enough to begin)
oncanplaythrough Script to be run when a file can be played all the way to the end without pausing for buffering
ondurationchange Script to be run when the length of the media changes
onemptied Script to be run when something bad happens and the file is suddenly unavailable (like unexpectedly disconnects)
onended Script to be run when the media has reach the end (a useful event for messages like "thanks for listening")
onerror Script to be run when an error occurs when the file is being loaded
onloadeddata Script to be run when media data is loaded
onloadedmetadata Script to be run when meta data (like dimensions and duration) are loaded
onloadstart Script to be run just as the file begins to load before anything is actually loaded
onpause Script to be run when the media is paused either by the user or programmatically
onplay Script to be run when the media is ready to start playing
onplaying Script to be run when the media actually has started playing
onprogress Script to be run when the browser is in the process of getting the media data
onratechange Script to be run each time the playback rate changes (like when a user switches to a slow motion or fast forward mode)
onreadystatechange Script to be run each time the ready state changes (the ready state tracks the state of the media data)
onseeked Script to be run when the seeking attribute is set to false indicating that seeking has ended
onseeking Script to be run when the seeking attribute is set to true indicating that seeking is active
onstalled Script to be run when the browser is unable to fetch the media data for whatever reason
onsuspend Script to be run when fetching the media data is stopped before it is completely loaded for whatever reason
ontimeupdate 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 to be run each time the volume is changed which (includes setting the volume to "mute")
onwaiting Script to be run when the media has paused but is expected to resume (like when the media pauses to buffer more data)

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