The HTMLElement.click() method simulates a mouse-click on an element.
When click() is used with supported elements (e.g. one of the <input> types), it fires the element's click event. This event then bubbles up to elements higher in the document tree (or event chain) and fires their click events. One exception: The click() method will not cause an <a> element to initiate navigation as if a real mouse-click had been received.
Syntax
elt.click()
Specification
| Specification | Status | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 HTML Specification | Recommendation | Initial definition |
Browser compatibility
| Feature | Chrome | Firefox (Gecko) | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari (WebKit) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | 20[3] | 5[1] | (Yes) | (Yes)[2] | 6[3] |
input@file (limited) |
(Yes) | 4 | (Yes) | 12.10 | (Yes) |
input@file (full) |
(Yes) | 4 | (Yes) | No support | (Yes) |
| Feature | Android | Chrome for Android | Firefox Mobile (Gecko) | IE Phone | Opera Mobile | Safari Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | No support | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
[1] Prior to Gecko 5.0 (Firefox 5.0 / Thunderbird 5.0 / SeaMonkey 2.2), Gecko did not implement the click() method on other elements that might be expected to respond to mouse-clicks, such as links (<a> elements), nor would it necessarily fire the click event of other elements.
[2] In Presto-based versions of Opera, the click() method will be silently ignored if made on an <input> with its type attribute set to file and its CSS display property set to none.
[3] Older versions had HTMLInputElement.click(), and HTMLButtonElement.click() only.