Web/API/Event/type

The type read-only property of the Event interface returns a string containing the event's type. It is set when the event is constructed and is the name commonly used to refer to the specific event, such as click, load, or error.

For a list of available event types, see the event reference.

Syntax

let eventType = event.type;

Value

A DOMString containing the type of Event.

Example

This example logs the event type whenever you press a keyboard key or click a mouse button.

HTML

<p>Press any key or click the mouse to get the event type.</p>
<p id="log"></p>

JavaScript

function getEventType(event) {
  const log = document.getElementById('log');
  log.innerText = event.type + '\n' + log.innerText;
}

// Keyboard events
document.addEventListener('keydown', getEventType, false);  // first
document.addEventListener('keypress', getEventType, false); // second
document.addEventListener('keyup', getEventType, false);    // third

// Mouse events
document.addEventListener('mousedown', getEventType, false); // first
document.addEventListener('mouseup', getEventType, false);   // second
document.addEventListener('click', getEventType, false);     // third

Result

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
DOMThe definition of 'Event.type' in that specification.	Living Standard
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Events SpecificationThe definition of 'Event.type' in that specification.	Obsolete	Initial definition.

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
`type`	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 1	IE Full support 9	Opera Full support 7	Safari Full support 1	WebView Android Full support 1	Chrome Android Full support 18	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support 10.1	Safari iOS Full support 1	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0

Legend

Full support: Full support