activeElement

Summary

Gets the object that has the focus when the parent document has focus. If no element in the document has focus, returns the <body> element.

Property of dom/Document dom/Document

Syntax

Note: This property is read-only.

var element = document.activeElement;

Return Value

Returns an object of type DOM NodeDOM Node

The currently active element of the document, or <body> if no element is active.

Examples

//display tag name of currently focused element
function getActiveElement () {
    if (document.activeElement) {
        alert(document.activeElement.tagName);
    }
}

Notes

The active element retains focus in the parent Document even when focus is shifted from the parent to another application. If the focus returns to the parent document, focus also returns to the same active element.

Related specifications

WHATWG HTML: Living Standard
W3C HTML5: Candidate Recommendation
W3C HTML5: Candidate Recommendation

Attributions

Microsoft Developer Network: [Windows Internet Explorer API reference Article]