Web/API/PointerEvent/pointerType

The pointerType read-only property of the PointerEvent interface indicates the device type (mouse, pen, or touch) that caused a given pointer event.

Syntax

var pType = pointerEvent.pointerType;

Return value

pType: The event's pointer type. The supported values are the following strings:

"mouse" The event was generated by a mouse device. "pen" The event was generated by a pen or stylus device. "touch" The event was generated by a touch, such as a finger.

If the device type cannot be detected by the browser, the value can be an empty string (""). If the browser supports pointer device types other than those listed above, the value should be vendor-prefixed to avoid conflicting names for different types of devices.

Example

This example illustrates using the value of the pointerType property to call the appropriate pointer type processing function.

targetElement.addEventListener('pointerdown', function(event) {
  // Call the appropriate pointer type handler
  switch (event.pointerType) {
    case 'mouse': 
      process_pointer_mouse(event); 
      break;
    case 'pen': 
      process_pointer_pen(event); 
      break;
    case 'touch': 
      process_pointer_touch(event); 
      break;
    default:
      console.log(`pointerType ${event.pointerType} is not suported`);
  }
}, false);

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
Pointer EventsThe definition of 'pointerType' in that specification.	Obsolete	Initial definition.
Pointer Events – Level 2The definition of 'pointerType' in that specification.	Recommendation	Non-stable version.
CSS Object Model (CSSOM) View ModuleThe definition of 'MouseEvent' in that specification.	Working Draft	Redefines `MouseEvent` from `long` to `double`. This means that a `PointerEvent` whose `pointerType` is mouse will be a `double`.

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
`pointerType`	Chrome Full support 55	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 59 Full support 59 Full support 41 Disabled' Disabled' From version 41: this feature is behind the `dom.w3c_pointer_events.enabled` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	IE Full support 11 Full support 11 Partial support 10 Notes' Notes' Returns an integer enumeration instead of a string.	Opera Full support 42	Safari Full support 13	WebView Android Full support 55	Chrome Android Full support 55	Firefox Android Full support 41 Disabled' Full support 41 Disabled' Disabled' From version 41: this feature is behind the `dom.w3c_pointer_events.enabled` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	Opera Android Full support 42	Safari iOS Full support 13	Samsung Internet Android Full support 6.0
Fractional coordinates for `mouse`.	Chrome Partial support 64 Notes' Partial support 64 Notes' Notes' `movementX` and `movementY` are not fractional, see Chromium bug 802067.	Edge Partial support 79 Notes' Partial support 79 Notes' Notes' `movementX` and `movementY` are not fractional, see Chromium bug 802067. No support 12 — 79 Notes' Notes' Only `clientX`, `clientY`, `pageX` and `pageY` are fractional.	Firefox No support No	IE Partial support Partial Notes' Partial support Partial Notes' Notes' Only `clientX`, `clientY`, `pageX` and `pageY` are fractional.	Opera Partial support 51 Notes' Partial support 51 Notes' Notes' `movementX` and `movementY` are not fractional, see Chromium bug 802067.	Safari No support No	WebView Android Partial support 64 Notes' Partial support 64 Notes' Notes' `movementX` and `movementY` are not fractional, see Chromium bug 802067.	Chrome Android Partial support 64 Notes' Partial support 64 Notes' Notes' `movementX` and `movementY` are not fractional, see Chromium bug 802067.	Firefox Android No support No	Opera Android Partial support 47 Notes' Partial support 47 Notes' Notes' `movementX` and `movementY` are not fractional, see Chromium bug 802067.	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android Partial support 9.0 Notes' Partial support 9.0 Notes' Notes' `movementX` and `movementY` are not fractional, see Chromium bug 802067.

Legend

Full support: Full support
Partial support: Partial support
No support: No support
See implementation notes.': See implementation notes.
User must explicitly enable this feature.': User must explicitly enable this feature.

PointerEvent.pointerType by Mozilla Contributors is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.5.