activeElement property

Element? get activeElement

The activeElement read-only property of the Document interface returns the Element within the DOM that currently has focus.

Often activeElement will return a HTMLInputElement or HTMLTextAreaElement object if it has the text selection at the time. If so, you can get more detail by using the object's selectionStart and selectionEnd properties. Other times the focused element might be a select element (menu) or an input element.

Typically a user can press the tab key to move the focus around the page among focusable elements, and use the space bar to activate one (that is, to press a button or toggle a radio button). Which elements are focusable varies depending on the platform and the browser's current configuration. For example, on macOS systems, elements that aren't text input elements are not typically focusable by default.

Note: Focus (which element is receiving user input events) is not the same thing as selection (the currently highlighted part of the document). You can get the current selection using window.getSelection.

Implementation

external Element? get activeElement;