Web/API/Touch/target

Summary

Returns the Element (EventTarget) on which the touch contact started when it was first placed on the surface, even if the touch point has since moved outside the interactive area of that element or even been removed from the document. Note that if the target element is removed from the document, events will still be targeted at it, and hence won't necessarily bubble up to the window or document anymore. If there is any risk of an element being removed while it is being touched, the best practice is to attach the touch listeners directly to the target.

Syntax

var el = touchPoint.target;

Return value

el: The target element of the Touch object.

Example

This example illustrates how to access the Touch object's Touch.target property. The Touch.target property is an Element (EventTarget) on which a touch point is started when contact is first placed on the surface.

In following simple code snippet, we assume the user initiates one or more touch contacts on the source element. When the touchstart event handler for this element is invoked, each touch point's Touch.target property is accessed via the event's TouchEvent.targetTouches list.

// Register a touchmove listener for the 'source' element
var src = document.getElementById("source");

src.addEventListener('touchstart', function(e) {
  // Iterate through the touch points that were activiated 
  // for this element.
  for (var i=0; i < e.targetTouches.length; i++) {
    console.log("touchpoint[" + i + "].target = " + e.targetTouches[i].target);
  }
}, false);

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
Touch Events – Level 2	Draft	Non-stable version.
Touch Events	Recommendation	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
`target`	Chrome Full support 22	Edge Full support ≤18	Firefox Full support 52 Notes' Full support 52 Notes' Notes' Touch events support has been fixed and reenabled in Windows desktop platforms. No support 18 — 24 Notes' Notes' Web compatibility issues seen in bug 888304.	IE No support No	Opera Full support Yes	Safari No support No	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support 6	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes

Legend

Full support: Full support
No support: No support
See implementation notes.': See implementation notes.

Touch.target by Mozilla Contributors is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.5.