Web/API/Element/error event

The error event is fired on an Element object when a resource failed to load, or can't be used. For example, if a script has an execution error or an image can't be found or is invalid.

Bubbles	No
Cancelable	No
Interface	`Event` or `UIEvent`
Event handler property	`onerror`

The event object is a UIEvent instance if it was generated from a user interface element, or an Event instance otherwise.

Examples

Live example

HTML

<div class="controls">
  <button id="img-error" type="button">Generate image error</button>
  <img class="bad-img" />
</div>

<div class="event-log">
  <label>Event log:</label>
  <textarea readonly class="event-log-contents" rows="8" cols="30"></textarea>
</div>

CSS

body {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-areas: "control  log";
}

.controls {
  grid-area: control;
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: center;
}

.event-log {
  grid-area: log;
}

.event-log-contents {
  resize: none;
}

label, button {
  display: block;
}

button {
  height: 2rem;
  margin: .5rem;
}

img {
  width: 0;
  height: 0;
}

JS

const log = document.querySelector('.event-log-contents');

const badImg = document.querySelector('.bad-img');
badImg.addEventListener('error', (event) => {
    log.textContent = log.textContent + `${event.type}: Loading image\n`;
    console.log(event)
});

const imgError = document.querySelector('#img-error');
imgError.addEventListener('click', () => {
    badImg.setAttribute('src', 'i-dont-exist');
});

Result

Specifications

Specification	Status
UI Events	Working Draft

Browser compatibility

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
`error` event	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge Full support ≤79	Firefox Full support Yes	IE ?	Opera ?	Safari ?	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support Yes	Opera Android ?	Safari iOS ?	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes

Legend

Full support: Full support
Compatibility unknown: Compatibility unknown