Change the value of a and allow the user to undo</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="2018-08-11T02:41:12.577" class="fromnow">Aug 11 '18 at 02:41</time> </div> <div class="grid--cell ws-nowrap mr16 mb8"> <span class="fc-light mr2">Active</span> <time class="fromnow" title="2018-10-14T22:47:29.993" datetime="2018-10-14T22:47:29.993">Oct 14 '18 at 22:47</a> </div> <div class="grid--cell ws-nowrap mb8" title="Viewed 423 times"> <span class="fc-light mr2">Viewed</span> 423 times </div> </div> <div id="mainbar" role="main" aria-label="questions and answers"> <div id="question" class="question" data-questionid="51796009" data-ownerid="6232794" data-score="6"> <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="51796009"> <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="6">6</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>In the past, when you set the <code>value</code> of a <code>textarea</code> using javascript, Firefox allowed the user to undo this change (by pressing ctrl+Z, for example). However, this no longer works, and there doesn't appear to be any decent alternatives.</p> <p>I've tried using <code>document.execCommand</code> to modify the <code>textarea</code>, but this requires you to select the text that you want to modify, and it doesn't appear to be possible to automatically select text in a <code>textarea</code>.</p> <p>I've also heard about <code>document.createEvent("TextEvent")</code> but I can't find much information about this. It appears that you can only <em>insert</em> text at the cursor, and I need to delete text as well.</p> <p>Creating my own undo/redo system and capturing <kbd>ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>Z</kbd>/<kbd>Y</kbd> presses is not an acceptable solution.</p> <p>Similar questions have already been asked here, but they involve only <em>inserting</em> text at the cursor, not changing the value of the textarea entirely.</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/firefox" class="post-tag js-gps-track" title="show questions tagged 'firefox'" rel="tag">firefox</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/undo-redo" class="post-tag js-gps-track" title="show questions tagged 'undo-redo'" rel="tag">undo-redo</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 owner grid--cell"> <div class="s-user-card s-user-card"> <time class="s-user-card--time" datetime="asked Aug 11 '18 at 02:41">asked Aug 11 '18 at 02:41</time> <a href="../../users/6232794/12me21" class="s-avatar s-avatar32 s-user-card--avatar"> <img class="s-avatar--image" src="../../users/profiles/6232794.webp" data-jdenticon-width="32" data-jdenticon-height="32" data-jdenticon-value="12Me21" /> </a> <div class="s-user-card--info"> <a href="../../users/6232794/12me21" class="s-user-card--link">12Me21</a> <ul class="s-user-card--awards"> <li class="s-user-card--rep" title="reputation score">992</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-blingsilver" title="10 silver badges">10</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-bling__bronze" title="22 bronze badges">22</li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-layout--right js-post-comments-component"> <div id="comments-51796009" class="comments js-comments-container bt bc-black-075 mt12 " data-post-id="51796009" 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-134216258" class="comment js-comment " data-comment-id="134216258" data-comment-owner-id="288906" 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="comment134216258_51796009"></a> <div class="comment-body js-comment-edit-hide"> <span class="comment-copy">Does this answer your question? [Is it possible to edit a text input with javascript and add to the Undo stack?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/27027833/is-it-possible-to-edit-a-text-input-with-javascript-and-add-to-the-undo-stack)</span> – <a href="../../users/288906/fregante" title="29,050 reputation" class="comment-user ">fregante</a> <span class="comment-date" dir="ltr"><a class="comment-link" href="../../questions/51796009/change-the-value-of-a-textarea-and-allow-the-user-to-undo#comment134216258_51796009"><span title="2023-04-25T18:19:03.787 License: CC BY-SA 4.0" class="relativetime-clean">Apr 25 '23 at 18:19</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="52807733"></a> <div id="answer-52807733" class="answer " data-answerid="52807733" data-ownerid="845505" data-score="1" itemprop="suggestedAnswer" 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="52807733"> <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="1">1</div> </div> </div> <div class="postcell post-layout--right"> <div class="s-prose js-post-body" itemprop="text"><p>You can use the <code>setSelectionRange</code> API to manually manipulate the textarea's selection. Get the original values from <code>textarea.selectionStart</code> and <code>textarea.selectionEnd</code>.</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 Oct 14 '18 at 22:47">answered Oct 14 '18 at 22:47</time> <a href="../../users/845505/jimmy-breck-mckye" class="s-avatar s-avatar32 s-user-card--avatar"> <img class="s-avatar--image" src="../../users/profiles/845505.webp" data-jdenticon-width="32" data-jdenticon-height="32" data-jdenticon-value="Jimmy Breck-McKye" /> </a> <div class="s-user-card--info"> <a href="../../users/845505/jimmy-breck-mckye" class="s-user-card--link">Jimmy Breck-McKye</a> <ul class="s-user-card--awards"> <li class="s-user-card--rep" title="reputation score">2,923</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-blinggold" title="1 gold badge">1</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-blingsilver" title="22 silver badge">22</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-bling__bronze" title="32 bronze badge">32</li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-layout--right js-post-comments-component"> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <script src="../../static/js/stack-icons.js"></script> <script src="../../static/js/fromnow.js"></script> </body> </html>