GlobalEventHandlers.onclick

 

The onclick property returns the click event handler code on the current element.

Note: When using the click event to trigger an action, also consider adding this same action to the keydown event, to allow the use of that same action by people who don't use a mouse or a touch screen.

Syntax

element.onclick = functionRef;

where functionRef is a function - often a name of a function declared elsewhere or a function expression. See "JavaScript Guide:Functions" for details.

The single argument passed to the specified event handler function is a MouseEvent object. Within the handler, this will be the element upon which the event was triggered.

Example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <title>onclick event example</title>
    <script>
      function initElement() {
        var p = document.getElementById("foo");
        // NOTE: showAlert(); or showAlert(param); will NOT work here.
        // Must be a reference to a function name, not a function call.
        p.onclick = showAlert;
      };
      function showAlert(event) {
        alert("onclick Event detected!");
      }
    </script>
    <style>
      #foo {
        border: solid blue 2px;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body onload="initElement();">
    <span id="foo">My Event Element</span>
    <p>click on the above element.</p>
  </body>
</html>

Or you can use an anonymous function, like this:

p.onclick = function(event) { alert("moot!"); };

Notes

The click event is raised when the user clicks on an element. The click event will occur after the mousedown and mouseup events.

Only one click handler can be assigned to an object at a time with this property. You may be inclined to use the EventTarget.addEventListener() method instead, since it is more flexible and part of the DOM Events specification.

Specification

Specification Status Comment
WHATWG HTML Living Standard
The definition of 'onclick' in that specification.		 Living Standard  

Browser Compatibility

Feature Chrome Edge Firefox (Gecko) Internet Explorer Opera Safari (WebKit)
Basic support (Yes) (Yes) ? ? ? ?
Feature Android Android Webview Chrome for Android Edge Firefox Mobile (Gecko) Firefox OS IE Mobile Opera Mobile Safari Mobile
Basic support ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

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 Last updated by: erikadoyle,