HTMLElement: drop event

{{APIRef("HTML Drag and Drop API")}}

The drop event is fired when an element or text selection is dropped on a valid drop target. To ensure that the drop event always fires as expected, you should always include a preventDefault() call in the part of your code which handles the dragover event.

This event is cancelable and may bubble up to the {{domxref("Document")}} and {{domxref("Window")}} objects.

Syntax

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

addEventListener("drop", (event) => { })

ondrop = (event) => { }

Event type

A {{domxref("DragEvent")}}. Inherits from {{domxref("Event")}}.

{{InheritanceDiagram("DragEvent")}}

Event properties

In addition to the properties listed below, properties from the parent interface, {{domxref("Event")}}, are available.

• {{domxref('DragEvent.dataTransfer')}} {{ReadOnlyInline}}
  • : The data that is transferred during a drag-and-drop interaction.

Examples

A minimal drag-and-drop example

In this example, we have a draggable element inside a container. Try grabbing the element, dragging it over the other container, and releasing it.

We use three event handlers here:

• in the dragstart event handler, we get a reference to the element that the user dragged
• in the dragover event handler for the target container, we call event.preventDefault(), which enables it to receive drop events.
• in the drop event handler for the drop zone, we handle moving the draggable element from the original container to the drop zone.

For a more complete example of drag and drop, see the page for the drag event.

HTML

<div class="dropzone">
  <div id="draggable" draggable="true">This div is draggable</div>
</div>
<div class="dropzone" id="drop-target"></div>

CSS

body {
  /* Prevent the user from selecting text in the example */
  user-select: none;
}

#draggable {
  text-align: center;
  background: white;
}

.dropzone {
  width: 200px;
  height: 20px;
  background: blueviolet;
  margin: 10px;
  padding: 10px;
}

JavaScript

let dragged = null;

const source = document.getElementById("draggable");
source.addEventListener("dragstart", (event) => {
  // store a ref. on the dragged elem
  dragged = event.target;
});

const target = document.getElementById("drop-target");
target.addEventListener("dragover", (event) => {
  // prevent default to allow drop
  event.preventDefault();
});

target.addEventListener("drop", (event) => {
  // prevent default action (open as a link for some elements)
  event.preventDefault();
  // move dragged element to the selected drop target
  if (event.target.className === "dropzone") {
    dragged.parentNode.removeChild(dragged);
    event.target.appendChild(dragged);
  }
});

Result

{{EmbedLiveSample('A minimal drag and drop example')}}

Specifications

{{Specifications}}

Browser compatibility

{{Compat}}

See also

• Other drag and drop events:
  • {{domxref("HTMLElement/drag_event", "drag")}}
  • {{domxref("HTMLElement/dragstart_event", "dragstart")}}
  • {{domxref("HTMLElement/dragend_event", "dragend")}}
  • {{domxref("HTMLElement/dragover_event", "dragover")}}
  • {{domxref("HTMLElement/dragenter_event", "dragenter")}}
  • {{domxref("HTMLElement/dragleave_event", "dragleave")}}