KeyboardEvent metaKey Property

DOM Events KeyboardEvent

Definition and Usage

The metaKey property returns a boolean value indicating whether the "META" key was pressed during a key mouse event.

Not all keyboards have a meta key. For Sun Microsystems keyboards and MIT and LISP machine keyboards, it is common. The meta key is marked as "META" or marked with a solid diamond symbol "◆".

On Mac keyboards, the META key is represented by the "Command/Cmd" ("⌘") key.

Note:This property is read-only.

Example

Check if the "META" key is pressed when a keyboard key is pressed:

var x = document.getElementById("demo");
if (event.metaKey) {
  x.innerHTML = "The META key was pressed!";
}
  x.innerHTML = "The META key was NOT pressed!";

Try It Yourself

Syntax

event.metaKey

Technical Details

Return value:

A boolean value indicating whether the "META" key was pressed when a key event occurred.

Possible values:

  • true - The meta key was pressed
  • false - The meta key was not pressed
DOM Version: DOM Level 2 Events

Browser Support

Properties Chrome IE Firefox Safari Opera
metaKey Support Support Support Support Support

Related Pages

HTML DOM Reference Manual:KeyboardEvent altKey Property

HTML DOM Reference Manual:KeyboardEvent ctrlKey Property

HTML DOM Reference Manual:KeyboardEvent shiftKey Property

DOM Events KeyboardEvent