I have probably a dumb question but here we go:

When you trigger a function with onclick="function()" or addEventListener onclick the function gets triggered only AFTER I click AND let go of the mouse.

Is there any way to trigger a function IMMEDIATELY on clicking an html element, NOT after clicking and letting go.

I want this to work anywhere I click on the body element.

I have probably a dumb question but here we go:

When you trigger a function with onclick="function()" or addEventListener onclick the function gets triggered only AFTER I click AND let go of the mouse.

Is there any way to trigger a function IMMEDIATELY on clicking an html element, NOT after clicking and letting go.

I want this to work anywhere I click on the body element.

• javascript
• html
• dom

Share Improve this question Follow asked Aug 17, 2020 at 15:45 Ivelin Ivelin 15922 silver badges1212 bronze badges 3

• 1 There's a "mousedown" event. – Pointy Commented Aug 17, 2020 at 15:48
• 4 While mousedown has been pointed out, let's think about it logically: since you can drag-and-drop in JS, there must be a way to get just the "down" and "up" events. Given that, searching the web for "js mouse down event" would have answered this for you almost immediately. I wouldn't call it a dumb question--but it's a question that can be self-answered relatively easily. That is the lesson I'd take away. – Dave Newton Commented Aug 17, 2020 at 15:49
• Yes, you're right. I don't know where my mind went. I forgot about this pletely. Thanks guys. – Ivelin Commented Aug 17, 2020 at 16:16

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2 Answers 2

Sorted by: Reset to default 4

The click event is triggered after the entire mouse action has been pleted.

Use mousedown instead of click.

document.addEventListener("mousedown", function(){
  console.log("You did it!");
});

Please check the mousedown event: https://www.w3schools./jsref/event_onmousedown.asp