jQuery Event Keypress: Which key was pressed?

Question

With jQuery, how do I find out which key was pressed when I bind to the keypress event?

$('#searchbox input').bind('keypress', function(e) {});

I want to trigger a submit when ENTER is pressed.

[Update]

Even though I found the (or better: one) answer myself, there seems to be some room for variation ;)

Is there a difference between keyCode and which - especially if I'm just looking for ENTER, which will never be a unicode key?

Do some browsers provide one property and others provide the other one?

Answer 1

Actually this is better:

 var code = e.keyCode || e.which;
 if(code == 13) { //Enter keycode
   //Do something
 }

Answer 2

Try this

$('#searchbox input').bind('keypress', function(e) {
    if(e.keyCode==13){
        // Enter pressed... do anything here...
    }
});

Answer 3

If you are using jQuery UI you have translations for common key codes. In ui/ui/ui.core.js:

$.ui.keyCode = { 
    ...
    ENTER: 13, 
    ...
};

There's also some translations in tests/simulate/jquery.simulate.js but I could not find any in the core JS library. Mind you, I merely grep'ed the sources. Maybe there is some other way to get rid of these magic numbers.

You can also make use of String.charCodeAt and .fromCharCode:

>>> String.charCodeAt('\r') == 13
true
>>> String.fromCharCode(13) == '\r'
true

Answer 4

Given that you are using jQuery, you should absolutely use .which. Yes different browsers set different properties, but jQuery will normalize them and set the .which value in each case. See documetation at http://api.jquery.com/keydown/ it states:

To determine which key was pressed, we can examine the event object that is passed to the handler function. While browsers use differing properties to store this information, jQuery normalizes the .which property so we can reliably use it to retrieve the key code.

Answer 5

... this example prevents form submission (regularly the basic intention when capturing keystroke #13):

$('input#search').keypress(function(e) {
  if (e.which == '13') {
     e.preventDefault();
     doSomethingWith(this.value);
   }
});

Answer 6

 // in jquery source code...
 if (!event.which && ((event.charCode || event.charCode === 0) ? event.charCode : event.keyCode)) {
     event.which = event.charCode || event.keyCode;
 }

 // So you have just to use
 $('#searchbox input').bind('keypress', function(e) {
     if (e.which === 13) {
         alert('ENTER WAS PRESSED');
     }
 });

Answer 7

edit: This only works for IE...

I realize this is an old posting, but someone might find this useful.

The key events are mapped, so instead of using the keycode value you can also use the key value to make it a little more readable.

$(document).ready( function() {
    $('#searchbox input').keydown(function(e)
    {
     setTimeout(function ()
     { 
       //rather than using keyup, you can use keydown to capture 
       //the input as it's being typed.
       //You may need to use a timeout in order to allow the input to be updated
     }, 5);
    }); 
    if(e.key == "Enter")
    {
       //Enter key was pressed, do stuff
    }else if(e.key == "Spacebar")
    {
       //Spacebar was pressed, do stuff
    }
});

Here is a cheat sheet with the mapped keys which I got from this blog

Answer 8

This is pretty much the complete list of keyCodes:

3: "break",
8: "backspace / delete",
9: "tab",
12: 'clear',
13: "enter",
16: "shift",
17: "ctrl",
18: "alt",
19: "pause/break",
20: "caps lock",
27: "escape",
28: "conversion",
29: "non-conversion",
32: "spacebar",
33: "page up",
34: "page down",
35: "end",
36: "home ",
37: "left arrow ",
38: "up arrow ",
39: "right arrow",
40: "down arrow ",
41: "select",
42: "print",
43: "execute",
44: "Print Screen",
45: "insert ",
46: "delete",
48: "0",
49: "1",
50: "2",
51: "3",
52: "4",
53: "5",
54: "6",
55: "7",
56: "8",
57: "9",
58: ":",
59: "semicolon (firefox), equals",
60: "<",
61: "equals (firefox)",
63: "ß",
64: "@ (firefox)",
65: "a",
66: "b",
67: "c",
68: "d",
69: "e",
70: "f",
71: "g",
72: "h",
73: "i",
74: "j",
75: "k",
76: "l",
77: "m",
78: "n",
79: "o",
80: "p",
81: "q",
82: "r",
83: "s",
84: "t",
85: "u",
86: "v",
87: "w",
88: "x",
89: "y",
90: "z",
91: "Windows Key / Left ⌘ / Chromebook Search key",
92: "right window key ",
93: "Windows Menu / Right ⌘",
96: "numpad 0 ",
97: "numpad 1 ",
98: "numpad 2 ",
99: "numpad 3 ",
100: "numpad 4 ",
101: "numpad 5 ",
102: "numpad 6 ",
103: "numpad 7 ",
104: "numpad 8 ",
105: "numpad 9 ",
106: "multiply ",
107: "add",
108: "numpad period (firefox)",
109: "subtract ",
110: "decimal point",
111: "divide ",
112: "f1 ",
113: "f2 ",
114: "f3 ",
115: "f4 ",
116: "f5 ",
117: "f6 ",
118: "f7 ",
119: "f8 ",
120: "f9 ",
121: "f10",
122: "f11",
123: "f12",
124: "f13",
125: "f14",
126: "f15",
127: "f16",
128: "f17",
129: "f18",
130: "f19",
131: "f20",
132: "f21",
133: "f22",
134: "f23",
135: "f24",
144: "num lock ",
145: "scroll lock",
160: "^",
161: '!',
163: "#",
164: '$',
165: 'ù',
166: "page backward",
167: "page forward",
169: "closing paren (AZERTY)",
170: '*',
171: "~ + * key",
173: "minus (firefox), mute/unmute",
174: "decrease volume level",
175: "increase volume level",
176: "next",
177: "previous",
178: "stop",
179: "play/pause",
180: "e-mail",
181: "mute/unmute (firefox)",
182: "decrease volume level (firefox)",
183: "increase volume level (firefox)",
186: "semi-colon / ñ",
187: "equal sign ",
188: "comma",
189: "dash ",
190: "period ",
191: "forward slash / ç",
192: "grave accent / ñ / æ",
193: "?, / or °",
194: "numpad period (chrome)",
219: "open bracket ",
220: "back slash ",
221: "close bracket / å",
222: "single quote / ø",
223: "`",
224: "left or right ⌘ key (firefox)",
225: "altgr",
226: "< /git >",
230: "GNOME Compose Key",
231: "ç",
233: "XF86Forward",
234: "XF86Back",
240: "alphanumeric",
242: "hiragana/katakana",
243: "half-width/full-width",
244: "kanji",
255: "toggle touchpad"

Answer 9

Checkout the excellent jquery.hotkeys plugin which supports key combinations:

$(document).bind('keydown', 'ctrl+c', fn);

Answer 10

$(document).ready(function(){
    $("#btnSubmit").bind("click",function(){$('#'+'<%=btnUpload.ClientID %>').trigger("click");return false;});
    $("body, input, textarea").keypress(function(e){
        if(e.which==13) $("#btnSubmit").click();
    });
});

Hope this may help you!!!

Answer 11

Here is an at-length description of the behaviour of various browsers http://unixpapa.com/js/key.html

Answer 12

Okay, I was blind:

e.which

will contain the ASCII code of the key.

See https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/KeyboardEvent/which

Answer 13

Use event.key and modern JS!

No number codes anymore. You can check key directly. For example "Enter", "LeftArrow", "r", or "R".

const input = document.getElementById("searchbox");
input.addEventListener("keypress", function onEvent(event) {
    if (event.key === "Enter") {
        // Submit
    }
    else if (event.key === "Q") {
        // Play quacking duck sound, maybe...
    }
});

Mozilla Docs

Supported Browsers

Answer 14

I'll just supplement solution code with this line e.preventDefault();. In case of input field of form we don't attend to submit on enter pressed

var code = (e.keyCode ? e.keyCode : e.which);
 if(code == 13) { //Enter keycode
   e.preventDefault();
   //Do something
 }

Answer 15

Here's a jquery extension that will handle the enter key being pressed.

(function ($) {
    $.prototype.enterPressed = function (fn) {
        $(this).keyup(function (e) {
            if ((e.keyCode || e.which) == 13) {
                fn();
            }
        });
    };
}(jQuery || {}));

$("#myInput").enterPressed(function() {
    //do something
});

A working example can be found here http://jsfiddle.net/EnjB3/8/

Answer 16

Add hidden submit, not type hidden, just plain submit with style="display:none". Here is an example (removed unnecessary attributes from code).

<form>
  <input type="text">
  <input type="submit" style="display:none">
</form>

it will accept enter key natively, no need for JavaScript, works in every browser.

Answer 17

Witch ;)

/*
This code is for example. In real life you have plugins like :
https://code.google.com/p/jquery-utils/wiki/JqueryUtils
https://github.com/jeresig/jquery.hotkeys/blob/master/jquery.hotkeys.js
https://github.com/madrobby/keymaster
http://dmauro.github.io/Keypress/

http://api.jquery.com/keydown/
http://api.jquery.com/keypress/
*/

var event2key = {'97':'a', '98':'b', '99':'c', '100':'d', '101':'e', '102':'f', '103':'g', '104':'h', '105':'i', '106':'j', '107':'k', '108':'l', '109':'m', '110':'n', '111':'o', '112':'p', '113':'q', '114':'r', '115':'s', '116':'t', '117':'u', '118':'v', '119':'w', '120':'x', '121':'y', '122':'z', '37':'left', '39':'right', '38':'up', '40':'down', '13':'enter'};

var documentKeys = function(event) {
    console.log(event.type, event.which, event.keyCode);

    var keycode = event.which || event.keyCode; // par exemple : 112
    var myKey = event2key[keycode]; // par exemple : 'p'

    switch (myKey) {
        case 'a':
            $('div').css({
                left: '+=50'
            });
            break;
        case 'z':
            $('div').css({
                left: '-=50'
            });
            break;
        default:
            //console.log('keycode', keycode);
    }
};

$(document).on('keydown keyup keypress', documentKeys);

Demo : http://jsfiddle.net/molokoloco/hgXyq/24/

Answer 18

Some browsers use keyCode, others use which. If you're using jQuery, you can reliably use which as jQuery standardizes things. Actually,

$('#searchbox input').bind('keypress', function(e) {
    if(e.keyCode==13){

    }
});

Answer 19

$(document).bind('keypress', function (e) {
    console.log(e.which);  //or alert(e.which);

});

you should have firbug to see a result in console

Answer 20

I have just made a plugin for jQuery that allows easier keypress events. Instead of having to find the number and put it in, all you have to do is this:

How to use it

1. Include the code I have below
2. Run this code:

$(document).keydown(function(e) {
    if (getPressedKey(e) == theKeyYouWantToFireAPressEventFor /*Add 'e.ctrlKey here to only fire if the combo is CTRL+theKeyYouWantToFireAPressEventFor'*/) {
        // Your Code To Fire When You Press theKeyYouWantToFireAPressEventFor 
    }
});

It's that simple. Please note that theKeyYouWantToFireAPressEventFor is not a number, but a string (e.g "a" to fire when A is pressed, "ctrl" to fire when CTRL (control) is pressed, or, in the case of a number, just 1, no quotes. That would fire when 1 is pressed.)

The Example/Code:

function getPressedKey(e){var a,s=e.keyCode||e.which,c=65,r=66,o=67,l=68,t=69,f=70,n=71,d=72,i=73,p=74,u=75,h=76,m=77,w=78,k=79,g=80,b=81,v=82,q=83,y=84,j=85,x=86,z=87,C=88,K=89,P=90,A=32,B=17,D=8,E=13,F=16,G=18,H=19,I=20,J=27,L=33,M=34,N=35,O=36,Q=37,R=38,S=40,T=45,U=46,V=91,W=92,X=93,Y=48,Z=49,$=50,_=51,ea=52,aa=53,sa=54,ca=55,ra=56,oa=57,la=96,ta=97,fa=98,na=99,da=100,ia=101,pa=102,ua=103,ha=104,ma=105,wa=106,ka=107,ga=109,ba=110,va=111,qa=112,ya=113,ja=114,xa=115,za=116,Ca=117,Ka=118,Pa=119,Aa=120,Ba=121,Da=122,Ea=123,Fa=114,Ga=145,Ha=186,Ia=187,Ja=188,La=189,Ma=190,Na=191,Oa=192,Qa=219,Ra=220,Sa=221,Ta=222;return s==Fa&&(a="numlock"),s==Ga&&(a="scrolllock"),s==Ha&&(a="semicolon"),s==Ia&&(a="equals"),s==Ja&&(a="comma"),s==La&&(a="dash"),s==Ma&&(a="period"),s==Na&&(a="slash"),s==Oa&&(a="grave"),s==Qa&&(a="openbracket"),s==Ra&&(a="backslash"),s==Sa&&(a="closebracket"),s==Ta&&(a="singlequote"),s==B&&(a="ctrl"),s==D&&(a="backspace"),s==E&&(a="enter"),s==F&&(a="shift"),s==G&&(a="alt"),s==H&&(a="pause"),s==I&&(a="caps"),s==J&&(a="esc"),s==L&&(a="pageup"),s==M&&(a="padedown"),s==N&&(a="end"),s==O&&(a="home"),s==Q&&(a="leftarrow"),s==R&&(a="uparrow"),s==S&&(a="downarrow"),s==T&&(a="insert"),s==U&&(a="delete"),s==V&&(a="winleft"),s==W&&(a="winright"),s==X&&(a="select"),s==Z&&(a=1),s==$&&(a=2),s==_&&(a=3),s==ea&&(a=4),s==aa&&(a=5),s==sa&&(a=6),s==ca&&(a=7),s==ra&&(a=8),s==oa&&(a=9),s==Y&&(a=0),s==ta&&(a=1),s==fa&&(a=2),s==na&&(a=3),s==da&&(a=4),s==ia&&(a=5),s==pa&&(a=6),s==ua&&(a=7),s==ha&&(a=8),s==ma&&(a=9),s==la&&(a=0),s==wa&&(a="times"),s==ka&&(a="add"),s==ga&&(a="minus"),s==ba&&(a="decimal"),s==va&&(a="devide"),s==qa&&(a="f1"),s==ya&&(a="f2"),s==ja&&(a="f3"),s==xa&&(a="f4"),s==za&&(a="f5"),s==Ca&&(a="f6"),s==Ka&&(a="f7"),s==Pa&&(a="f8"),s==Aa&&(a="f9"),s==Ba&&(a="f10"),s==Da&&(a="f11"),s==Ea&&(a="f12"),s==c&&(a="a"),s==r&&(a="b"),s==o&&(a="c"),s==l&&(a="d"),s==t&&(a="e"),s==f&&(a="f"),s==n&&(a="g"),s==d&&(a="h"),s==i&&(a="i"),s==p&&(a="j"),s==u&&(a="k"),s==h&&(a="l"),s==m&&(a="m"),s==w&&(a="n"),s==k&&(a="o"),s==g&&(a="p"),s==b&&(a="q"),s==v&&(a="r"),s==q&&(a="s"),s==y&&(a="t"),s==j&&(a="u"),s==x&&(a="v"),s==z&&(a="w"),s==C&&(a="x"),s==K&&(a="y"),s==P&&(a="z"),s==A&&(a="space"),a}

$(document).keydown(function(e) {
  $("#key").text(getPressedKey(e));
  console.log(getPressedKey(e));
  if (getPressedKey(e)=="space") {
    e.preventDefault();
  }
  if (getPressedKey(e)=="backspace") {
    e.preventDefault();
  }
});

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<p>The Pressed Key: <span id=key></span></p>

Because the long version is so... well... long, I have made a PasteBin link for it:
http://pastebin.com/VUaDevz1

Answer 21

The event.keyCode and event.which are deprecated. See @Gibolt answer above or check documentation: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/KeyboardEvent

event.key should be used instead

keypress event is deprecated as well: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Document/keypress_event

Answer 22

According to Kilian's answer:

If only enter key-press is important:

<form action="javascript:alert('Enter');">
<input type=text value="press enter">
</form>

Answer 23

The easiest way that I do is:

$("#element").keydown(function(event) {
    if (event.keyCode == 13) {
        localiza_cep(this.value);
    }
});

Answer 24

Try this:

jQuery('#myInput').keypress(function(e) {
    code = e.keyCode ? e.keyCode : e.which;
    if(code.toString() == 13) {
        alert('You pressed enter!');
    }
});