preventDefault() Event Method

Example

Prevent a link from opening the URL:

document.getElementById("myAnchor").addEventListener("click", function(event){
event.preventDefault()
});

More "Try it Yourself" examples below.

Description

The preventDefault() method cancels the event if it is cancelable, meaning that the default action that belongs to the event will not occur.

For example, this can be useful when:

Clicking on a "Submit" button, prevent it from submitting a form
Clicking on a link, prevent the link from following the URL

Note: Not all events are cancelable. Use the cancelable property to find out if an event is cancelable.

Note: The preventDefault() method does not prevent further propagation of an event through the DOM. Use the stopPropagation() method to handle this.

Browser Support

The numbers in the table specify the first browser version that fully supports the method.

Method
preventDefault()	Yes	9.0	Yes	Yes	Yes

Syntax

event.preventDefault()

Parameters

None

Technical Details

Return Value:	No return value
DOM Version:	DOM Level 2 Events

More Examples

Example

Prevent the default action of a checkbox:

document.getElementById("myCheckbox").addEventListener("click", function(event){
event.preventDefault()
});

Try it Yourself »

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