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Document: createEvent() method

Warning: Many methods used with createEvent, such as initCustomEvent, are deprecated. Use event constructors instead.

Creates an event of the type specified. The returned object should be first initialized and can then be passed to EventTarget.dispatchEvent.

Syntax

createEvent(type)

Parameters

type: A string that represents the type of event to be created. Possible event types include "UIEvents", "MouseEvents", "MutationEvents", and "HTMLEvents". See Notes section for details.

Return value

An Event object.

Examples

// Create the event.
const event = document.createEvent("Event");

// Define that the event name is 'build'.
event.initEvent("build", true, true);

// Listen for the event.
elem.addEventListener(
  "build",
  (e) => {
    // e.target matches elem
  },
  false,
);

// Target can be any Element or other EventTarget.
elem.dispatchEvent(event);

Notes

Event type strings suitable for passing to createEvent() are listed in the DOM standard — see the table in step 2. Bear in mind that most event objects now have constructors, which are the modern recommended way to create event object instances.

Gecko supports some non-standard event object aliases, which are listed below.

Event Module	Standard event object	Gecko also supports
Text event module	`TextEvent`	`TextEvents`
Keyboard event module	`KeyboardEvent`	`KeyEvents`
Basic events module	`Event`	`Events`

Specifications

Specification
DOM Standard # dom-document-createevent

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
`createEvent`	1	12	1 From version 67, creating touch events using this method is no longer supported.	9	7	1	4.4	18	4	10.1	1	1.0