HTMLElement: dragenter event

The dragenter event is fired when a dragged element or text selection enters a valid drop target.

The target object is the immediate user selection (the element directly indicated by the user as the drop target), or the <body> element.

Syntax

Use the event name in methods like addEventListener(), or set an event handler property.

addEventListener("dragenter", (event) => {});

ondragenter = (event) => {};

Event type

Event properties

In addition to the properties listed below, properties from the parent interface, Event, are available.

DragEvent.dataTransfer Read only

The data that is transferred during a drag and drop interaction.

Examples

Styling drop zones on dragenter

In this example, we have a draggable element inside a container. Try grabbing the element, dragging it over the other container, and then releasing it.

We listen for the dragenter event to give the other container a purple background while the draggable element is over it, to signal that the draggable element could be dropped on to the container.

Note though that in this partial example we haven't implemented dropping: for a complete example of drag and drop, see the page for the drag event.

HTML

<div class="dropzone">
  <div id="draggable" draggable="true">This div is draggable</div>
</div>
<div class="dropzone" id="droptarget"></div>

CSS

body {
  /* Prevent the user selecting text in the example */
  user-select: none;
}

#draggable {
  text-align: center;
  background: white;
}

.dropzone {
  width: 200px;
  height: 20px;
  background: blueviolet;
  margin: 10px;
  padding: 10px;
}

.dropzone.dragover {
  background-color: purple;
}

JavaScript

const target = document.getElementById("droptarget");
target.addEventListener("dragenter", (event) => {
  // highlight potential drop target when the draggable element enters it
  if (event.target.classList.contains("dropzone")) {
    event.target.classList.add("dragover");
  }
});

target.addEventListener("dragleave", (event) => {
  // reset background of potential drop target when the draggable element leaves it
  if (event.target.classList.contains("dropzone")) {
    event.target.classList.remove("dragover");
  }
});

Result

Specifications

Specification
HTML Standard
# ix-handler-ondragenter
HTML Standard
# event-dnd-dragenter

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also