Web/API/GlobalEventHandlers/oncontextmenu

The oncontextmenu property of the GlobalEventHandlers mixin is an EventHandler that processes contextmenu events.

The contextmenu event typically fires when the right mouse button is clicked on the window. Unless the default behavior is prevented, the browser context menu will activate.

Syntax

target.oncontextmenu = functionRef;

Value

functionRef is a function name or a function expression. The function receives an Event object as its sole argument.

Only one oncontextmenu handler can be assigned to an object at a time. You may prefer to use the EventTarget.addEventListener() method instead, since it's more flexible.

Examples

Disabling context menus

This snippet prevents context menus from opening in the window. The context menu typically appears upon a right click.

HTML

<p>Try opening the context menu. Is it disabled?<p>

JavaScript

window.oncontextmenu = (e) => {
  e.preventDefault();
}

Pausing an animation

This example pauses a spinning shape whenever you open the context menu.

HTML

<div class="shape">Spinning</div>
<p class="note" hidden>Click to unpause.</p>

CSS

@keyframes spin {
  from {
    transform: rotate(0);
  }
  to {
    transform: rotate(1turn);
  }
}

.shape {
  width: 8em;
  height: 8em;
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: center;
  animation: spin 18s linear infinite;
  background: lightsalmon;
  border-radius: 42%;
  margin: 1em;
}

.paused {
  background-color: #ddd;
}

.paused .shape {
  animation-play-state: paused;
}

JavaScript

function pause(e) {
  body.classList.add('paused');
  note.removeAttribute('hidden');
}

function play(e) {
  body.classList.remove('paused');
  note.setAttribute('hidden', '');
}

const body = document.querySelector('body');
const note = document.querySelector('.note');

window.oncontextmenu = pause;
window.onpointerdown = play;

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
HTML Living StandardThe definition of 'oncontextmenu' in that specification.	Living Standard

Browser compatibility

The compatibility table on this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.

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
oncontextmenu	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge Full support ≤18	Firefox Full support Yes	IE ?	Opera ?	Safari ?	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android ?	Opera Android ?	Safari iOS ?	Samsung Internet Android No support No

Legend

Full support  

Full support

No support  

No support

Compatibility unknown  

Compatibility unknown

Unless the default behavior is prevented, the browser context menu will activate upon right-click. However, IE8 has a bug with this and will not activate the context menu if a contextmenu event handler is defined.

See also

• contextmenu event

GlobalEventHandlers.oncontextmenu by Mozilla Contributors is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.5.