Element: setPointerCapture() method

The setPointerCapture() method of the Element interface is used to designate a specific element as the capture target of future pointer events. Subsequent events for the pointer will be targeted at the capture element until capture is released (via Element.releasePointerCapture() or the pointerup event is fired).

Note: Pointer capture will cause the target to capture all subsequent pointer events as if they were occurring over the capturing target. Accordingly, pointerover, pointerenter, pointerleave, and pointerout will not fire as long as this capture is set. For touchscreen browsers that allow direct manipulation, an implicit pointer capture will be called on the element when a pointerdown event triggers. The capture can be released manually by calling element.releasePointerCapture on the target element, or it will be implicitly released after a pointerup or pointercancel event.

Overview of pointer capture

Pointer capture allows events for a particular pointer event (PointerEvent) to be re-targeted to a particular element instead of the normal (or hit test) target at a pointer's location. This can be used to ensure that an element continues to receive pointer events even if the pointer device's contact moves off the element (such as by scrolling or panning).

Syntax

setPointerCapture(pointerId)

Parameters

pointerId: The pointerId of a PointerEvent object.

Return value

None (undefined).

Exceptions

NotFoundError DOMException: Thrown if pointerId does not match any active pointer.

Examples

This example sets pointer capture on a <div> when you press down on it. This lets you slide the element horizontally, even when your pointer moves outside of its boundaries.

HTML

html

<div id="slider">SLIDE ME</div>

CSS

css

div {
  width: 140px;
  height: 50px;
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: center;
  background: #fbe;
}

JavaScript

function beginSliding(e) {
  slider.onpointermove = slide;
  slider.setPointerCapture(e.pointerId);
}

function stopSliding(e) {
  slider.onpointermove = null;
  slider.releasePointerCapture(e.pointerId);
}

function slide(e) {
  slider.style.transform = `translate(${e.clientX - 70}px)`;
}

const slider = document.getElementById("slider");

slider.onpointerdown = beginSliding;
slider.onpointerup = stopSliding;

Result

Specifications

Specification
Pointer Events # dom-element-setpointercapture

Browser compatibility

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	WebView Android	Chrome Android	Firefox for Android	Opera Android	Safari on IOS	Samsung Internet
`setPointerCapture`	55	12	59 Before Firefox 82, `setPointerCapture()` throws `InvalidPointerId` for an invalid `pointerId` argument. From Firefox 82, it throws the specified `NotFoundError` exception. See bug 1662124.	1110	42	13	55	55	79 Before Firefox 82, `setPointerCapture()` throws `InvalidPointerId` for an invalid `pointerId` argument. From Firefox 82, it throws the specified `NotFoundError` exception. See bug 1662124.	42	13	6.0

Docs

Docs4dev

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