GlobalEventHandlers.oncontextmenu

The oncontextmenu property of the GlobalEventHandlers mixin is an event handler that processes contextmenu events.

The contextmenu event typically fires when the right mouse button is clicked on the window. Unless the default behavior is prevented, the browser context menu will activate.

Syntax

target.oncontextmenu = functionRef;

Value

functionRef is a function name or a function expression. The function receives an Event object as its sole argument.

Only one oncontextmenu handler can be assigned to an object at a time. You may prefer to use the EventTarget.addEventListener() method instead, since it's more flexible.

Examples

Disabling context menus

This snippet prevents context menus from opening in the window. The context menu typically appears upon a right click.

HTML

<p>Try opening the context menu. Is it disabled?<p>

JavaScript

window.oncontextmenu = (e) => {
  e.preventDefault();
}

Result

Pausing an animation

This example pauses a spinning shape whenever you open the context menu.

HTML

<div class="shape">Spinning</div>
<p class="note" hidden>Click to unpause.</p>

CSS

@keyframes spin {
  from {
    transform: rotate(0);
  }
  to {
    transform: rotate(1turn);
  }
}

.shape {
  width: 8em;
  height: 8em;
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: center;
  animation: spin 18s linear infinite;
  background: lightsalmon;
  border-radius: 42%;
  margin: 1em;
}

.paused {
  background-color: #ddd;
}

.paused .shape {
  animation-play-state: paused;
}

JavaScript

function pause(e) {
  body.classList.add('paused');
  note.removeAttribute('hidden');
}

function play(e) {
  body.classList.remove('paused');
  note.setAttribute('hidden', '');
}

const body = document.querySelector('body');
const note = document.querySelector('.note');

window.oncontextmenu = pause;
window.onpointerdown = play;

Result

Specifications

Browser compatibility

Unless the default behavior is prevented, the browser context menu will activate upon right-click. However, IE8 has a bug with this and will not activate the context menu if a contextmenu event handler is defined.

See also

• contextmenu event