Element: setCapture() method

Deprecated: This feature is no longer recommended. Though some browsers might still support it, it may have already been removed from the relevant web standards, may be in the process of being dropped, or may only be kept for compatibility purposes. Avoid using it, and update existing code if possible; see the compatibility table at the bottom of this page to guide your decision. Be aware that this feature may cease to work at any time.

Non-standard: This feature is not standardized. We do not recommend using non-standard features in production, as they have limited browser support, and may change or be removed. However, they can be a suitable alternative in specific cases where no standard option exists.

Call this method during the handling of a mousedown event to retarget all mouse events to this element until the mouse button is released or document.releaseCapture() is called.

Warning: This interface never had much cross-browser support and you are probably looking for element.setPointerCapture instead, from the Pointer Events API.

Syntax

js
setCapture(retargetToElement)

Parameters

retargetToElement

If true, all events are targeted directly to this element; if false, events can also fire at descendants of this element.

Return value

None (undefined).

Examples

In this example, the current mouse coordinates are drawn while you mouse around after clicking and holding down on an element.

html
<p>This is an example of how to use mouse capture on elements in Gecko 2.0.</p>
<p><a id="myButton" href="#">Test Me</a></p>
<div id="output">No events yet</div>
css
#myButton {
  border: solid black 1px;
  color: black;
  padding: 2px;
  box-shadow: black 2px 2px;
}
js
function mouseDown(e) {
  e.target.setCapture();
  e.target.addEventListener("mousemove", mouseMoved);
}

function mouseUp(e) {
  e.target.removeEventListener("mousemove", mouseMoved);
}

function mouseMoved(e) {
  const output = document.getElementById("output");
  output.textContent = `Position: ${e.clientX}, ${e.clientY}`;
}

const btn = document.getElementById("myButton");
if (btn.setCapture) {
  btn.addEventListener("mousedown", mouseDown);
  btn.addEventListener("mouseup", mouseUp);
} else {
  document.getElementById("output").textContent =
    "Sorry, there appears to be no setCapture support on this browser";
}

View Live Examples

Notes

The element may not be scrolled completely to the top or bottom, depending on the layout of other elements.

Specifications

Not part of any specification.

Browser compatibility

desktop mobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
setCapture
Deprecated Non-standard
Chrome – No support
Chrome
footnote No support
Edge – No support
Edge 12 – 18 (Release date: 2015-07-29)
footnote Removed in 79 and later
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 4 (Release date: 2011-03-22)
footnote Full support
Opera – No support
Opera
footnote No support
Safari – No support
Safari
footnote No support
Chrome Android – No support
Chrome Android
footnote No support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 4 (Release date: 2011-03-29)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – No support
Opera Android
footnote No support
Safari on iOS – No support
Safari on iOS
footnote No support
Samsung Internet – No support
Samsung Internet
footnote No support
WebView Android – No support
WebView Android
footnote No support
WebView on iOS – No support
WebView on iOS
footnote No support

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support
No support
No support
Non-standard. Check cross-browser support before using.
Deprecated. Not for use in new websites.

See also