Event.currentTarget

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  1. Example
  2. Specifications
  3. Browser compatibility
  4. See also

Identifies the current target for the event, as the event traverses the DOM. It always refers to the element to which the event handler has been attached, as opposed to event.target which identifies the element on which the event occurred.

Example

event.currentTarget is interesting to use when attaching the same event handler to several elements.

function hide(e){
  e.currentTarget.style.visibility = "hidden";
  console.log(e.currentTarget);
  // When this function is used as an event handler: this === e.currentTarget
}

var ps = document.getElementsByTagName('p');

for(var i = 0; i < ps.length; i++){
  // console: print the clicked <p> element 
  ps[i].addEventListener('click', hide, false);
}
// console: print <body>
document.body.addEventListener('click', hide, false);

// click around and make paragraphs disappear

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
DOM
The definition of 'Event.currentTarget' in that specification.		 Living Standard  
DOM4
The definition of 'Event.currentTarget' in that specification.		 Obsolete  
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Events Specification
The definition of 'current event target' in that specification.		 Obsolete  
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Events Specification
The definition of 'Event.currentTarget' in that specification.		 Obsolete Initial definition

Browser compatibility

Update compatibility data on GitHub
DesktopMobile
ChromeEdgeFirefoxInternet ExplorerOperaSafariAndroid webviewChrome for AndroidEdge MobileFirefox for AndroidOpera for AndroidiOS SafariSamsung Internet
Basic supportChrome Full support YesEdge Full support YesFirefox Full support YesIE Full support 9
Full support 9
No support 6 — 9
Notes
Notes On Internet Explorer 6 through 8, the event model is different. Event listeners are attached with the non-standard EventTarget.attachEvent method. In this model, there is no equivalent to event.currentTarget and this is the global object. One solution to emulate the event.currentTarget feature is to wrap your handler in a function calling the handler using Function.prototype.call with the element as a first argument. This way, this will be the expected value.
Opera Full support YesSafari Full support 10WebView Android Full support YesChrome Android Full support YesEdge Mobile Full support YesFirefox Android Full support YesOpera Android Full support YesSafari iOS Full support 10Samsung Internet Android ?

Legend

Full support  
Full support
Compatibility unknown  
Compatibility unknown
See implementation notes.
See implementation notes.

See also

Comparison of Event Targets

Document Tags and Contributors

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Contributors to this page: fscholz, 329530588, thomasuebel, erikadoyle, bblack, cvrebert, Sebastianz, teoli, Cobra, Sheppy, dbruant, ziyunfei, DavidWalsh, evilpie, Sevenspade, shiawuen, Matej Lednar, Nickolay, Hamstersoup, Jabez, Ptak82, Dria, JesseW
Last updated by: fscholz,