HTML Drag and Drop API
In HTML, any element can be dragged and dropped.
Example
Drag the W3Schools image into the rectangle.
Drag and Drop
Drag and drop is a very common feature. It is when you "grab" an object and drag it to a different location.
Browser Support
The numbers in the table specify the first browser version that fully supports Drag and Drop.
| API | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drag and Drop | 4.0 | 9.0 | 3.5 | 6.0 | 12.0 |
HTML Drag and Drop Example
The example below is a simple drag and drop example:
Example
<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<html>
<head>
<script>
function allowDrop(ev)
{
ev.preventDefault();
}
function drag(ev)
{
ev.dataTransfer.setData("text", ev.target.id);
}
function drop(ev)
{
ev.preventDefault();
var data = ev.dataTransfer.getData("text");
ev.target.appendChild(document.getElementById(data));
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
<div id="div1" ondrop="drop(event)"
ondragover="allowDrop(event)"></div>
<img id="drag1" src="img_logo.gif" draggable="true"
ondragstart="drag(event)" width="336" height="69">
</body>
</html>
Try it Yourself »It might seem complicated, but let's go through all the different parts of a drag and drop event.
Make an Element Draggable
First of all: To make an element draggable, set the draggable attribute to true:
<img draggable="true">
What to Drag - ondragstart and setData()
Then, specify what should happen when the element is dragged.
In the example above, the ondragstart attribute calls a function, drag(event), that specifies what data to be dragged.
The dataTransfer.setData() method sets the data type and the value of the dragged data:
function drag(ev) {
ev.dataTransfer.setData("text", ev.target.id);
}
In this case, the data type is "text" and the value is the id of the draggable element ("drag1").
Where to Drop — ondragover
The ondragover event specifies where the dragged data can be dropped.
By default, data/elements cannot be dropped in other elements. To allow a drop, we must prevent the default handling of the element.
This is done by calling the event.preventDefault() method for the ondragover event:
event.preventDefault()
Do the Drop - ondrop
When the dragged data is dropped, a drop event occurs.
In the example above, the ondrop attribute calls a function, drop(event):
function drop(ev) {
ev.preventDefault();
var data = ev.dataTransfer.getData("text");
ev.target.appendChild(document.getElementById(data));
}
Code explained:
- Call preventDefault() to prevent the browser default handling of the data (default is open as link on drop)
- Get the dragged data with the dataTransfer.getData() method. This method will return any data that was set to the same type in the setData() method
- The dragged data is the id of the dragged element ("drag1")
- Append the dragged element into the drop element
More Examples
Example
How to drag (and drop) an image back and forth between two <div> elements:
