JavaScript keydown/keyup events: key codes

Key codes of keydown and keyup events

JavaScript FAQ | Keyboard & Mouse Events FAQ

Question: Are the keyCode values of keydown/keyup events standardized across browsers?
Answer: No, unfortunately, not all key codes are standardized. For example, the minus key has different key codes in different browsers. The table below shows the event.keyCode values for keydown and keyup events in Opera 25, Internet Exlorer 11, Firefox 32, Safari 5.1, and Google Chrome 38. If you are interested in key codes for older browsers (ca.2011), please refer to www.javascripter.net/faq/keycodes2011.htm or, for even older bowsers, see the W3C Working Group Note Legacy Keyboard Event Properties. Common key codes that are relatively safe to use across browsers are shown in black. Key codes that differ across browsers are shown in red. Do not use this table for character codes of keypress events: keypress character codes are not key-specific and may be enirely different from keydown/keyup key codes.
keydown/keyup event.keyCode Opera MSIE Firefox Safari Chrome Key pressed _________________________________________________________ 8 8 8 8 8 Backspace 9 9 9 9 9 Tab 13 13 13 13 13 Enter 16 16 16 16 16 Shift 17 17 17 17 17 Ctrl 18 18 18 18 18 Alt 19 19 19 19 19 Pause, Break 20 20 20 20 20 CapsLock 27 27 27 27 27 Esc 32 32 32 32 32 Space 33 33 33 33 33 Page Up 34 34 34 34 34 Page Down 35 35 35 35 35 End 36 36 36 36 36 Home 37 37 37 37 37 Left arrow 38 38 38 38 38 Up arrow 39 39 39 39 39 Right arrow 40 40 40 40 40 Down arrow 44 44 44 44 PrntScrn (see below^†) 45 45 45 45 45 Insert 46 46 46 46 46 Delete 48-57 48-57 48-57 48-57 48-57 0 to 9 65-90 65-90 65-90 65-90 65-90 A to Z 91 91 91 91 91 WIN Key (Start) 93 93 93 93 93 WIN Menu 112-123 112-123 112-123 112-123 112-123 F1 to F12 144 144 144 144 144 NumLock 145 145 145 145 145 ScrollLock 188 188 188 188 188 , < 190 190 190 190 190 . > 191 191 191 191 191 / ? 192 192 192 192 192 ` ~ 219 219 219 219 219 [ { (see below^‡) 220 220 220 220 220 \ | 221 221 221 221 221 ] } 222 222 222 222 222 ' "
^†In most browsers, pressing the PrntScrn key fires keyup events only.
^‡Key code 219 also corresponds to the Win Key (Start) in older versions of Opera.
The following key codes differ across browsers:
keydown/keyup event.keyCode Opera MSIE Firefox Safari Chrome Key pressed _________________________________________________________ 173 173 181 173 173 Mute On|Off 174 174 182 174 174 Volume Down 175 175 183 175 175 Volume Up 186 186 59 186 186 ; : 187 187 61 187 187 = + 189 189 173 189 189 - _
The numeric keypad may produce different keycodes depending on the NumLock state:
All of the above browsers (NumLock On/Off) Key pressed __________________________________________________________ 96/45 Numpad 0 Ins 97/35 Numpad 1 End 98/40 Numpad 2 Down 99/34 Numpad 3 Pg Down 100/37 Numpad 4 Left 101/12 Numpad 5 102/39 Numpad 6 Right 103/36 Numpad 7 Home 104/38 Numpad 8 Up 105/33 Numpad 9 Pg Up 106/106 Numpad * 107/107 Numpad + 109/109 Numpad - 110/46 Numpad . Del 111/111 Numpad /

See also:
• What event properties can I use to analyze keyboard events?
• Which key did the user press?
• Which character did the user type?
• KeyEvent object (predefined key code constants in Firefox)