character limit</a></h1> </div> <div class="grid fw-wrap pb8 mb16 bb bc-black-075"> <div class="grid--cell ws-nowrap mr16 mb8" title="2016-01-12 19:07:53Z"> <span class="fc-light mr2">Asked</span> <time itemprop="dateCreated" datetime="2013-08-24T18:03:51.233" class="fromnow">Aug 24 '13 at 18:03</time> </div> <div class="grid--cell ws-nowrap mr16 mb8"> <span class="fc-light mr2">Active</span> <time class="fromnow" title="2013-08-25T00:13:52.670" datetime="2013-08-25T00:13:52.670">Aug 25 '13 at 00:13</a> </div> <div class="grid--cell ws-nowrap mb8" title="Viewed 3,308 times"> <span class="fc-light mr2">Viewed</span> 3,308 times </div> </div> <div id="mainbar" role="main" aria-label="questions and answers"> <div id="question" class="question" data-questionid="18421568" data-ownerid="1397061" data-score="0"> <div class="post-layout"> <div class="votecell post-layout--left"> <div class="js-voting-container grid jc-center fd-column ai-stretch gs4 fc-black-200" data-post-id="18421568"> <button class="js-vote-up-btn grid--cell s-btn s-btnunset c-pointer"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="m0 svg-icon iconArrowUpLg" width="36" height="36" viewBox="0 0 36 36"><path d="M2 26h32L18 10 2 26z"></path></svg></button> <div class="js-vote-count grid--cell fc-black-500 fs-title grid fd-column ai-center" itemprop="upvoteCount" data-value="0">0</div> <button class="js-bookmark-btn s-btn s-btnunset c-pointer py4"> <svg aria-hidden="true" class="svg-icon iconBookmark" width="18" height="18" viewBox="0 0 18 18"><path d="M6 1a2 2 0 00-2 2v14l5-4 5 4V3a2 2 0 00-2-2H6zm3.9 3.83h2.9l-2.35 1.7.9 2.77L9 7.59l-2.35 1.7.9-2.76-2.35-1.7h2.9L9 2.06l.9 2.77z"></path></svg> <div class="js-bookmark-count mt4" data-value=""></div> </button> </div> </div> <div class="postcell post-layout--right"> <div class="s-prose js-post-body" itemprop="text"><p>What is a <em>cross-browser</em> way to set the maximum number of characters in a textarea, using plain Javascript? <a class="external-link" href="http://www.w3schools.com/tags/att_textarea_maxlength.asp" rel="nofollow"><code>maxlength</code></a> does not work for textareas on Opera and IE9 and below (though it works on all major browsers for inputs). </p> <p>Once the character limit is reached, the textarea should not allow more characters to be entered. Text pasted either with Ctrl+V or the right-click context menu should be cut off at the character limit. This means a solution that uses only <code>onkey_</code> events is not sufficient.</p></div> <div class="mt24 mb12"> <div class="post-taglist grid gs4 gsy fd-column"> <div class="grid ps-relative"> <a href="../../questions/tagged/javascript" class="post-tag js-gps-track" title="show questions tagged 'javascript'" rel="tag">javascript</a> <a href="../../questions/tagged/html" class="post-tag js-gps-track" title="show questions tagged 'html'" rel="tag">html</a> <a href="../../questions/tagged/textarea" class="post-tag js-gps-track" title="show questions tagged 'textarea'" rel="tag">textarea</a> <a href="../../questions/tagged/maxlength" class="post-tag js-gps-track" title="show questions tagged 'maxlength'" rel="tag">maxlength</a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="mb0"> <div class="mt16 grid gs8 gsy fw-wrap jc-end ai-start pt4 mb16"> <div class="grid--cell mr16 fl1 w96"></div> <div class="post-signature grid--cell"> <div class="user-info "> <div class="user-action-time">edited <span title="2013-08-25T00:13:52.670" class="relativetime">Aug 25 '13 at 00:13</span></div> <div class="user-gravatar32"></div> <div class="user-details" itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"> <span class="d-none" itemprop="name">1''</span> <div class="-flair"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-signature owner grid--cell"> <div class="s-user-card s-user-card"> <time class="s-user-card--time" datetime="asked Aug 24 '13 at 18:03">asked Aug 24 '13 at 18:03</time> <a href="../../users/1397061/1" class="s-avatar s-avatar32 s-user-card--avatar"> <img class="s-avatar--image" src="../../users/profiles/1397061.webp" data-jdenticon-width="32" data-jdenticon-height="32" data-jdenticon-value="1''" /> </a> <div class="s-user-card--info"> <a href="../../users/1397061/1" class="s-user-card--link">1''</a> <ul class="s-user-card--awards"> <li class="s-user-card--rep" title="reputation score">26,823</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-blinggold" title="32 gold badges">32</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-blingsilver" title="143 silver badges">143</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-bling__bronze" title="200 bronze badges">200</li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-layout--right js-post-comments-component"> <div id="comments-18421568" class="comments js-comments-container bt bc-black-075 mt12 " data-post-id="18421568" data-min-length="15"> <ul class="comments-list js-comments-list" data-remaining-comments-count="0" data-canpost="false" data-cansee="true" data-comments-unavailable="false" data-addlink-disabled="true"> <li id="comment-27063057" class="comment js-comment " data-comment-id="27063057" data-comment-owner-id="2097224" data-comment-score="0"> <div class="js-comment-actions comment-actions"> <div class="comment-score js-comment-edit-hide"> </div> </div> <div class="comment-text js-comment-text-and-form"> <a name="comment27063057_18421568"></a> <div class="comment-body js-comment-edit-hide"> <span class="comment-copy">[That may answer your question](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/451491/what-is-the-best-way-to-emulate-an-html-input-maxlength-attribute-on-an-html-t)</span> – <a href="../../users/2097224/black-sheep" title="6,604 reputation" class="comment-user ">Black Sheep</a> <span class="comment-date" dir="ltr"><a class="comment-link" href="../../questions/18421568/textarea-character-limit#comment27063057_18421568"><span title="2013-08-24T18:17:42.867 License: CC BY-SA 3.0" class="relativetime-clean">Aug 24 '13 at 18:17</span></a></span> </div> </div> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="answers"> <a name="tab-top"></a> <div id="answers-header"> <div class="answers-subheader grid ai-center mb8"> <div class="grid--cell fl1"> <h2 class="mb0" data-answercount="9">1 Answers<span style="display:none;" itemprop="answerCount">1</span></h2> </div> </div> </div> <a name="18421649"></a> <div id="answer-18421649" class="answer accepted-answer" data-answerid="18421649" data-ownerid="1615483" data-score="3" itemprop="acceptedAnswer" itemscope="" itemtype="https://schema.org/Answer"> <div class="post-layout"> <div class="votecell post-layout--left"> <div class="js-voting-container grid jc-center fd-column ai-stretch gs4 fc-black-200" data-post-id="18421649"> <button class="js-vote-up-btn grid--cell s-btn s-btnunset c-pointer"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="m0 svg-icon iconArrowUpLg" width="36" height="36" viewBox="0 0 36 36"><path d="M2 26h32L18 10 2 26z"></path></svg></button> <div class="js-vote-count grid--cell fc-black-500 fs-title grid fd-column ai-center" itemprop="upvoteCount" data-value="3">3</div> <div class="js-accepted-answer-indicator grid--cell fc-green-500 py6 mtn8"><div class="ta-center"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="svg-icon iconCheckmarkLg" width="36" height="36" viewBox="0 0 36 36"><path d="m6 14 8 8L30 6v8L14 30l-8-8v-8z"></path></svg></div></div> </div> </div> <div class="postcell post-layout--right"> <div class="s-prose js-post-body" itemprop="text"><p>Generate <em>functions</em> that will either truncate the <em>value</em> or prevent the <em>Event</em> under your conditions, and then add them as several different listeners for all the events you're interested in.</p> <pre><code>function snip(len) { return function (e) {e.target.value = e.target.value.slice(0, len);}; } function prevent(len) { return function () { if (e.target.value.length >= len) { e.preventDefault(); return false; } }; } var len = 5; // choose your length however you want var textarea = document.getElementById('texta'), // get the node trunc = snip(len), prev1 = prevent(len), prev2 = prevent(len - 1); textarea.addEventListener('change' , trunc, true); textarea.addEventListener('input' , trunc, true); textarea.addEventListener('keydown' , prev2, true); textarea.addEventListener('keypress', prev2, true); textarea.addEventListener('keyup' , prev1, true); textarea.addEventListener('paste' , trunc, true); </code></pre> <p>The events may need to be attached differently in IE</p> <p><a class="external-link" href="http://jsfiddle.net/fad2A/" rel="nofollow"><strong>DEMO</strong></a></p></div> <div class="mb0"> <div class="mt16 grid gs8 gsy fw-wrap jc-end ai-start pt4 mb16"> <div class="grid--cell mr16 fl1 w96"></div> <div class="post-signature grid--cell"> <div class="s-user-card s-user-card"> <time class="s-user-card--time" datetime="answered Aug 24 '13 at 18:15">answered Aug 24 '13 at 18:15</time> <a href="../../users/1615483/paul-s" class="s-avatar s-avatar32 s-user-card--avatar"> <img class="s-avatar--image" src="../../users/profiles/1615483.webp" data-jdenticon-width="32" data-jdenticon-height="32" data-jdenticon-value="Paul S." /> </a> <div class="s-user-card--info"> <a href="../../users/1615483/paul-s" class="s-user-card--link">Paul S.</a> <ul class="s-user-card--awards"> <li class="s-user-card--rep" title="reputation score">64,864</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-blinggold" title="9 gold badges">9</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-blingsilver" title="122 silver badges">122</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-bling__bronze" title="138 bronze badges">138</li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-layout--right js-post-comments-component"> <div id="comments-18421649" class="comments js-comments-container bt bc-black-075 mt12 " data-post-id="18421649" data-min-length="15"> <ul class="comments-list js-comments-list" data-remaining-comments-count="0" data-canpost="false" data-cansee="true" data-comments-unavailable="false" data-addlink-disabled="true"> <li id="comment-27063170" class="comment js-comment " data-comment-id="27063170" data-comment-owner-id="1615483" data-comment-score="0"> <div class="js-comment-actions comment-actions"> <div class="comment-score js-comment-edit-hide"> </div> </div> <div class="comment-text js-comment-text-and-form"> <a name="comment27063170_18421649"></a> <div class="comment-body js-comment-edit-hide"> <span class="comment-copy">I'll also point out that these as they are don't cause infinite loops because setting `value = value` doesn't trigger change/input events, but if you're making other changes it might do, so be careful.</span> – <a href="../../users/1615483/paul-s" title="64,864 reputation" class="comment-user ">Paul S.</a> <span class="comment-date" dir="ltr"><a class="comment-link" href="../../questions/18421568/textarea-character-limit#comment27063170_18421649"><span title="2013-08-24T18:24:31.233 License: CC BY-SA 3.0" class="relativetime-clean">Aug 24 '13 at 18:24</span></a></span> </div> </div> </li> <li id="comment-27063280" class="comment js-comment " data-comment-id="27063280" data-comment-owner-id="1397061" data-comment-score="0"> <div class="js-comment-actions comment-actions"> <div class="comment-score js-comment-edit-hide"> </div> </div> <div class="comment-text js-comment-text-and-form"> <a name="comment27063280_18421649"></a> <div class="comment-body js-comment-edit-hide"> <span class="comment-copy">Nice answer! However, this erases text at the end rather than preventing input once max length is reached. Rather than tinker to make it work, I'll just go with `maxlength`. Who needs Opera and IE9 support anyway? :P</span> – <a href="../../users/1397061/1" title="26,823 reputation" class="comment-user owner">1''</a> <span class="comment-date" dir="ltr"><a class="comment-link" href="../../questions/18421568/textarea-character-limit#comment27063280_18421649"><span title="2013-08-24T18:31:42.880 License: CC BY-SA 3.0" class="relativetime-clean">Aug 24 '13 at 18:31</span></a></span> </div> </div> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <script src="../../static/js/stack-icons.js"></script> <script src="../../static/js/fromnow.js"></script> </body> </html>