HTMLElement: copy event

The copy event fires when the user initiates a copy action through the browser's user interface.

Syntax

Use the event name in methods like addEventListener(), or set an event handler property.

addEventListener('copy', event => { });

oncopy = event => { };

Event type

A ClipboardEvent. Inherits from Event.

Event properties

Also inherits properties from its parent Event.

ClipboardEvent.clipboardData Read only: Is a DataTransfer object containing the data affected by the user-initiated cut, copy, or paste operation, along with its MIME type.

Example

This example blocks every copy and paste attempt from the <textarea>.

HTML

<h3>Play with this text area:</h3>
<textarea id="editor" rows="3">Try copying and pasting text into this field!</textarea>

<h3>Log:</h3>
<p id="log"></p>

JavaScript

const log = document.getElementById('log');

function logCopy(event) {
  log.innerText = 'Copy blocked!\n' + log.innerText;
  event.preventDefault();
}

function logPaste(event) {
  log.innerText = 'Paste blocked!\n' + log.innerText;
  event.preventDefault();
}

const editor = document.getElementById('editor');

editor.oncopy = logCopy;
editor.onpaste = logPaste;

Result

Specifications

Specification
HTML Standard # handler-oncopy

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
`copy_event`	1	12	3	9 5.5 Before Internet Explorer 9, this event is not supported via `addEventListener`.	≤12.1	3	1	18	4	≤12.1	1	1.0

Name	Web APIs
Version
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Last Updated	2022-04-27T09:33:08Z