The HTMLElement.click() method simulates a mouse click on an element.
When click() is used with supported elements (such as an <input>), it fires the element's click event. This event then bubbles up to elements higher in the document tree (or event chain) and fires their click events. However, the click() method will not initiate navigation on an <a> element.
Syntax
element.click()
Specification
| Specification | Status | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 HTML Specification | Recommendation | Initial definition. |
Browser compatibility
| Feature | Chrome | Edge | Firefox (Gecko) | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari (WebKit) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | 20[3] | (Yes) | 5[1] | (Yes) | (Yes)[2] | 6[3] |
input@file (limited) |
(Yes) | (Yes) | 4 | (Yes) | 12.10 | (Yes) |
input@file (full) |
(Yes) | (Yes) | 4 | (Yes) | No support | (Yes) |
| Feature | Android | Chrome for Android | Edge | Firefox Mobile (Gecko) | IE Phone | Opera Mobile | Safari Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | No support | ? | (Yes) | ? | ? | ? | ? |
[1] Prior to Gecko 5.0 (Firefox 5.0 / Thunderbird 5.0 / SeaMonkey 2.2), Gecko would not implement the click() method on other elements that might be expected to respond to mouse clicks, such as links (<a> elements), nor would it necessarily fire the click event of other elements.
[2] In Presto-based versions of Opera, the click() method will be silently ignored if made on an <input> with its type attribute set to file and its CSS display property set to none.
[3] Older versions had HTMLInputElement.click() and HTMLButtonElement.click() only.