JavaScript Keycode Finder

Press any key to see everything a JavaScript KeyboardEvent reports: event.key, event.code, the legacy keyCode and which, the key location and modifier state. Copy any value or a ready-made keydown handler, and look up common codes in the table below.

How to use the JavaScript Keycode Finder

1. Press any key on your keyboard. The big number is the keyCode and the cards show every property of the event.
2. Try combinations such as Shift+A or Ctrl+S: the modifier pills light up and event.key shows the resulting character.
3. Click a card to copy its value, for example the event.code string.
4. Copy the code snippet: choose whether to match by event.key or event.code and paste the handler into your project.
5. Look up a key without pressing it by searching the reference table.

key, code, keyCode and which compared

Choosing key or code

Use event.key when the meaning matters: keyboard shortcuts such as Ctrl+S, closing a dialog with Escape, submitting with Enter, or reading typed characters. It respects the user's keyboard layout, so a French user pressing the key labelled "Z" gets "z".

Use event.code when the position matters: WASD movement in a game, piano or drum keys, or any layout where the physical arrangement is the point. On an AZERTY keyboard the WASD keys are labelled ZQSD but still report KeyW, KeyA, KeyS and KeyD.

Avoid keyCode and which in new code. They remain for old browsers and existing scripts, but values differ between browsers for some punctuation keys and are ambiguous for non-US layouts.

Common pitfalls

• The space bar's event.key is a single space character " ", not "Space". Its event.code is "Space".
• With Shift held, letter keys report an upper-case event.key ("A"), so compare with event.key.toLowerCase() for case-insensitive shortcuts.
• On macOS use event.metaKey (⌘) where Windows and Linux use event.ctrlKey for shortcuts like save and copy.
• The keypress event is deprecated. Use keydown for keys and the input event for text changes.
• Check event.isComposing (or keyCode 229) to ignore key events while an input method is composing Chinese, Japanese or Korean text.

Frequently asked questions

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