Web/API/HTMLObjectElement/setCustomValidity

The setCustomValidity() method of the HTMLObjectElement interface sets a custom validity message for the element.

Syntax

HTMLObjectElement.setCustomValidity(message);

Parameters

error: The message to use for validity errors.

Return value

undefined

Exceptions

None.

Examples

In this example, we pass the ID of an input element, and set different error messages depending on whether the value is missing, too low or too high. Additionally you must call the reportValidity method on the same element or nothing will happen.

function validate(inputID)
{
 var input = document.getElementById(inputID);
 var validityState_object = input.validity;

 if (validityState_object.valueMissing)
 {
  input.setCustomValidity('You gotta fill this out, yo!');
  input.reportValidity();
 }
 else if (validityState_object.rangeUnderflow)
 {
  input.setCustomValidity('We need a higher number!');
  input.reportValidity();
 }
 else if (validityState_object.rangeOverflow)
 {
  input.setCustomValidity('Thats too high!');
  input.reportValidity();
 }
 else
 {
  input.setCustomValidity('');
  input.reportValidity();
 }
}

It's vital to set the message to an empty string if there are no errors. As long as the error message is not null, the form will not pass validation and will not be submitted.

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
HTML Living StandardThe definition of 'setCustomValidity' in that specification.	Living Standard	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
`setCustomValidity`	Chrome Full support 10	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 1	IE Full support 10	Opera Full support ≤12.1	Safari Full support 6	WebView Android Full support ≤37	Chrome Android Full support 18	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support ≤12.1	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0

Legend

Full support: Full support