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Element: mousedown event

files/en-us/web/api/element/mousedown_event/index.md

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{{APIRef("UI Events")}}

The mousedown event is fired at an {{domxref("Element")}} when a pointing device button is pressed while the pointer is inside the element.

This differs from the {{domxref("Element/click_event", "click")}} event in that click is fired after a full click action occurs; that is, the mouse button is pressed and released while the pointer remains inside the same element. mousedown is fired the moment the button is initially pressed.

This behavior is different from {{domxref("Element/pointerdown_event", "pointerdown")}} events. When using a physical mouse, mousedown events fire whenever any button on a mouse is pressed down. pointerdown events fire only upon the first button press; subsequent button presses don't fire pointerdown events.

Syntax

Use the event name in methods like {{domxref("EventTarget.addEventListener", "addEventListener()")}}, or set an event handler property.

js-nolint
addEventListener("mousedown", (event) => { })

onmousedown = (event) => { }

Event type

A {{domxref("MouseEvent")}}. Inherits from {{domxref("UIEvent")}} and {{domxref("Event")}}.

{{InheritanceDiagram("MouseEvent")}}

Event properties

This interface also inherits properties of its parents, {{domxref("UIEvent")}} and {{domxref("Event")}}.

  • {{domxref("MouseEvent.altKey")}} {{ReadOnlyInline}}
    • : Returns true if the <kbd>alt</kbd> key was down when the mouse event was fired.
  • {{domxref("MouseEvent.button")}} {{ReadOnlyInline}}
    • : The button number that was pressed (if applicable) when the mouse event was fired.
  • {{domxref("MouseEvent.buttons")}} {{ReadOnlyInline}}
    • : The buttons being pressed (if any) when the mouse event was fired.
  • {{domxref("MouseEvent.clientX")}} {{ReadOnlyInline}}
  • {{domxref("MouseEvent.clientY")}} {{ReadOnlyInline}}
  • {{domxref("MouseEvent.ctrlKey")}} {{ReadOnlyInline}}
    • : Returns true if the <kbd>control</kbd> key was down when the mouse event was fired.
  • {{domxref("MouseEvent.layerX")}} {{Non-standard_inline}} {{ReadOnlyInline}}
    • : Returns the horizontal coordinate of the event relative to the current layer.
  • {{domxref("MouseEvent.layerY")}} {{Non-standard_inline}} {{ReadOnlyInline}}
    • : Returns the vertical coordinate of the event relative to the current layer.
  • {{domxref("MouseEvent.metaKey")}} {{ReadOnlyInline}}
    • : Returns true if the <kbd>meta</kbd> key was down when the mouse event was fired.
  • {{domxref("MouseEvent.movementX")}} {{ReadOnlyInline}}
    • : The X coordinate of the mouse pointer relative to the position of the last {{domxref("Element/mousemove_event", "mousemove")}} event.
  • {{domxref("MouseEvent.movementY")}} {{ReadOnlyInline}}
    • : The Y coordinate of the mouse pointer relative to the position of the last {{domxref("Element/mousemove_event", "mousemove")}} event.
  • {{domxref("MouseEvent.offsetX")}} {{ReadOnlyInline}}
    • : The X coordinate of the mouse pointer relative to the position of the padding edge of the target node.
  • {{domxref("MouseEvent.offsetY")}} {{ReadOnlyInline}}
    • : The Y coordinate of the mouse pointer relative to the position of the padding edge of the target node.
  • {{domxref("MouseEvent.pageX")}} {{ReadOnlyInline}}
    • : The X coordinate of the mouse pointer relative to the whole document.
  • {{domxref("MouseEvent.pageY")}} {{ReadOnlyInline}}
    • : The Y coordinate of the mouse pointer relative to the whole document.
  • {{domxref("MouseEvent.relatedTarget")}} {{ReadOnlyInline}}
    • : The secondary target for the event, if there is one.
  • {{domxref("MouseEvent.screenX")}} {{ReadOnlyInline}}
  • {{domxref("MouseEvent.screenY")}} {{ReadOnlyInline}}
  • {{domxref("MouseEvent.shiftKey")}} {{ReadOnlyInline}}
    • : Returns true if the <kbd>shift</kbd> key was down when the mouse event was fired.
  • {{domxref("MouseEvent.mozInputSource")}} {{non-standard_inline()}} {{ReadOnlyInline}}
    • : The type of device that generated the event (one of the MOZ_SOURCE_* constants). This lets you, for example, determine whether a mouse event was generated by an actual mouse or by a touch event (which might affect the degree of accuracy with which you interpret the coordinates associated with the event).
  • {{domxref("MouseEvent.webkitForce")}} {{non-standard_inline()}} {{ReadOnlyInline}}
    • : The amount of pressure applied when clicking.
  • {{domxref("MouseEvent.x")}} {{ReadOnlyInline}}
    • : Alias for {{domxref("MouseEvent.clientX")}}.
  • {{domxref("MouseEvent.y")}} {{ReadOnlyInline}}
    • : Alias for {{domxref("MouseEvent.clientY")}}.

Examples

See mousemove event for example code.

Specifications

{{Specifications}}

Browser compatibility

{{Compat}}

See also

  • Learn: Introduction to events
  • {{domxref("Element/mouseup_event", "mouseup")}}
  • {{domxref("Element/mousemove_event", "mousemove")}}
  • {{domxref("Element/click_event", "click")}}
  • {{domxref("Element/dblclick_event", "dblclick")}}
  • {{domxref("Element/mouseover_event", "mouseover")}}
  • {{domxref("Element/mouseout_event", "mouseout")}}
  • {{domxref("Element/mouseenter_event", "mouseenter")}}
  • {{domxref("Element/mouseleave_event", "mouseleave")}}
  • {{domxref("Element/contextmenu_event", "contextmenu")}}
  • {{domxref("Element/pointerdown_event", "pointerdown")}}