Binding arrow keys in JS/jQuery
javascript, jquery, key-bindings, keyboard
Solution
document.onkeydown = function(e) {
switch(e.which) {
case 37: // left
break;
case 38: // up
break;
case 39: // right
break;
case 40: // down
break;
default: return; // exit this handler for other keys
}
e.preventDefault(); // prevent the default action (scroll / move caret)
};
If you need to support IE8, start the function body as `e = e || window.event; switch(e.which || e.keyCode) {`.
(edit 2020) Note that `KeyboardEvent.which` is now deprecated. See this example using `KeyboardEvent.key` for a more modern solution to detect arrow keys.
Problem
How do I go about binding a function to left and right arrow keys in Javascript and/or jQuery? I looked at the js-hotkey plugin for jQuery (wraps the built-in bind function to add an argument to recognize specific keys), but it doesn't seem to support arrow keys.