The dragstart event is fired when the user starts dragging an element or text selection.

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

addEventListener("dragstart", (event) => {});

ondragstart = (event) => {};

A DragEvent. Inherits from Event.

In addition to the properties listed below, properties from the parent interface, Event, are available.

DragEvent.dataTransfer Read only

The data that is transferred during a drag and drop interaction.

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

We listen for the dragstart event to make the element half transparent while it is being dragged.

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

HTML

<div id="container">
  <div id="draggable" draggable="true">This div is draggable</div>
</div>
<div class="dropzone"></div>

CSS

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

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

#container {
  width: 200px;
  height: 20px;
  background: blueviolet;
  padding: 10px;
}

.dragging {
  opacity: 0.5;
}

JavaScript

const source = document.getElementById("draggable");
source.addEventListener("dragstart", (event) => {
  // make it half transparent
  event.target.classList.add("dragging");
});

source.addEventListener("dragend", (event) => {
  // reset the transparency
  event.target.classList.remove("dragging");
});

Result

• Other drag and drop events:
  • drag
  • dragend
  • dragover
  • dragenter
  • dragleave
  • drop
• This event on other targets:
  • Window: dragstart event
  • Document: dragstart event
  • SVGElement: dragstart event