Browsers have client-side events triggered when a keyboard key is pressed or released:
The keydown event occurs when the keyboard key is pressed, and it is followed at once by the execution of the keypress event.
The keyup event is generated when the key is released.
JavaScript keycode events Example
HTML example code using onkeypress and onkeydown to demonstrate the differences between character codes and keyboard codes:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<input type="text" onkeypress="uniCharCode(event)" onkeydown="uniKeyCode(event)">
<script>
function uniCharCode(event) {
var char = event.which || event.keyCode;
console.log("Unicode CHARACTER code: " + char);
}
function uniKeyCode(event) {
var key = event.keyCode;
console.log("Unicode KEY code: " + key);
}
</script>
</body>
</html>Output: Not using caps lock result will be different.
List of char of the JS KeyCodes
| Keyboard key Pressed | JavaScript Key Code value |
| backspace | 8 |
| tab | 9 |
| enter | 13 |
| shift | 16 |
| ctrl | 17 |
| alt | 18 |
| pause/break | 19 |
| caps lock | 20 |
| escape | 27 |
| page up | 33 |
| Space | 32 |
| page down | 34 |
| end | 35 |
| home | 36 |
| arrow left | 37 |
| arrow up | 38 |
| arrow right | 39 |
| arrow down | 40 |
| print screen | 44 |
| insert | 45 |
| delete | 46 |
| 0 | 48 |
| 1 | 49 |
| 2 | 50 |
| 3 | 51 |
| 4 | 52 |
| 5 | 53 |
| 6 | 54 |
| 7 | 55 |
| 8 | 56 |
| 9 | 57 |
| a | 65 |
| b | 66 |
| c | 67 |
| d | 68 |
| e | 69 |
| f | 70 |
| g | 71 |
| h | 72 |
| i | 73 |
| j | 74 |
| k | 75 |
| l | 76 |
| m | 77 |
| n | 78 |
| o | 79 |
| p | 80 |
| q | 81 |
| r | 82 |
| s | 83 |
| t | 84 |
| u | 85 |
| v | 86 |
| w | 87 |
| x | 88 |
| y | 89 |
| z | 90 |
| left window key | 91 |
| right window key | 92 |
| select key | 93 |
| numpad 0 | 96 |
| numpad 1 | 97 |
| numpad 2 | 98 |
| numpad 3 | 99 |
| numpad 4 | 100 |
| numpad 5 | 101 |
| numpad 6 | 102 |
| numpad 7 | 103 |
| numpad 8 | 104 |
| numpad 9 | 105 |
| multiply | 106 |
| add | 107 |
| subtract | 109 |
| decimal point | 110 |
| divide | 111 |
| f1 | 112 |
| f2 | 113 |
| f3 | 114 |
| f4 | 115 |
| f5 | 116 |
| f6 | 117 |
| f7 | 118 |
| f8 | 119 |
| f9 | 120 |
| f10 | 121 |
| f11 | 122 |
| f12 | 123 |
| num lock | 144 |
| scroll lock | 145 |
| My Computer (multimedia keyboard) | 182 |
| My Calculator (multimedia keyboard) | 183 |
| semi-colon | 186 |
| equal sign | 187 |
| comma | 188 |
| dash | 189 |
| period | 190 |
| forward slash | 191 |
| open bracket | 219 |
| back slash | 220 |
| close braket | 221 |
| single quote | 222 |
Do comment if you have any doubts and suggestions on this JS keycode topic,
Note: The All JS Examples codes are tested on the Firefox browser and the Chrome browser.
OS: Windows 10
Code: HTML 5 Version