MouseEvent: metaKey property

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2015.

The MouseEvent.metaKey read-only property is a boolean value that indicates whether the meta key was pressed or not when a given mouse event occurs.

Be aware that many operating systems bind special functionality to the meta key, so this property may be false even when the key is actually pressed. On Windows, for example, this key may open the Start menu.

Note: On Macintosh keyboards, this key is the command key (⌘). On Windows keyboards, this key is the Windows key (⊞).

Value

A boolean value, where true indicates that the key is pressed, and false indicates that the key is not pressed.

Examples

This example logs the metaKey property when you trigger a click event.

HTML

html
<p>Click anywhere to test the <code>metaKey</code> property.</p>
<p id="log"></p>

JavaScript

js
let log = document.querySelector("#log");
document.addEventListener("click", logKey);

function logKey(e) {
  log.textContent = `The meta key is pressed: ${e.metaKey}`;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification
Pointer Events
# dom-mouseevent-metakey

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
metaKey
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 1 (Release date: 2008-12-11)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 12 (Release date: 2015-07-29)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 1.5 (Release date: 2005-11-29)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 12.1 (Release date: 2012-11-20)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 1 (Release date: 2003-06-23)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 18 (Release date: 2012-06-27)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 4 (Release date: 2011-03-29)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 12.1 (Release date: 2012-10-09)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 1 (Release date: 2007-06-29)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 1 (Release date: 2013-04-27)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 4.4 (Release date: 2013-12-09)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 1 (Release date: 2007-06-29)
footnote Full support

Legend

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

Full support
Full support

See also