HTMLElement.oncopy

Experimental: This is an experimental technology
Check the Browser compatibility table carefully before using this in production.

The oncopy property of the HTMLElement interface is an event handler that processes copy events.

The copy event fires when the user attempts to copy text.

Syntax

target.oncopy = functionRef;

Value

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

Example

This example blocks every copy and paste attempt from the <textarea>.

HTML

<h3>Play with this text area:</h3>
<textarea id="editor" rows="3">Try copying and pasting text into this field!</textarea>

<h3>Log:</h3>
<p id="log"></p>

JavaScript

const log = document.getElementById('log');

function logCopy(event) {
  log.innerText = 'Copy blocked!\n' + log.innerText;
  event.preventDefault();
}

function logPaste(event) {
  log.innerText = 'Paste blocked!\n' + log.innerText;
  event.preventDefault();
}

const editor = document.getElementById('editor');

editor.oncopy = logCopy;
editor.onpaste = logPaste;

Result

Specifications

WHATWG Standard

Browser compatibility

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	WebView Android	Chrome Android	Firefox for Android	Opera Android	Safari on IOS	Samsung Internet
`oncopy`	1	12	3	5.5	≤12.1	3	1	18	4	≤12.1	1	1.0

Since Firefox 13, the preference dom.event.clipboardevents.enabled controls this feature. It defaults to true but can be disabled.