Detect if the caps lock is on
Written byPhuoc Nguyen
Created
03 Mar, 2020
Category
Level 2 — Intermediate
Assume that we want to let users know if the caps lock is on while they are entering the value for an input (a password field, for example):
html
<input type="text" id="textbox" />
<div id="message" />
The element with
`id`
of `message`
will be used to show the message.#1. Use the getModifierState() function
The getModifierState() function returns the state of given modifier key.
It can let us know if the
`CapsLock`
key is pressed by calling `getModifierState('CapsLock')`
from the event object.js
const textboxEle = document.getElementById('textbox');
const messageEle = document.getElementById('message');
textboxEle.addEventListener('keydown', function (e) {
const capsLockOn = e.getModifierState('CapsLock');
// Update the content of message
messageEle.innerHTML = capsLockOn ? 'Caps lock is ON' : '';
// Show or hide the message based on the CapsLock state
messageEle.style.display = capsLockOn ? 'block' : 'none';
});
This approach doesn't support the case that users press the Shift key.
#2. Support the Shift key
The caps lock is treated as ON if users press
- an uppercase letter without Shift
- or an lowercase letter with Shift
js
const textboxEle = document.getElementById('textbox');
const messageEle = document.getElementById('message');
textboxEle.addEventListener('keypress', function (e) {
const isMac = /Mac/.test(navigator.platform);
const keyCode = e.keyCode || e.which;
// Is the _Shift_ key pressed?
const shiftKey = e.shiftKey || keyCode === 16;
// Get the pressed character
const s = String.fromCharCode(keyCode);
const capsLockOn =
(s.toUpperCase() === s && s.toLowerCase() !== s && !(shiftKey && isMac)) ||
(s.toUpperCase() !== s && s.toLowerCase() === s && shiftKey);
messageEle.innerHTML = capsLockOn ? 'Caps lock is ON' : '';
messageEle.style.display = capsLockOn ? 'block' : 'none';
});
#See also
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Phước Nguyễn