HTML auxclick DOM Event: Reference and Examples

When someone interacts with a webpage, the browser sends events to the relevant JavaScript code. The auxclick event happens when a nonprimary mouse button is clicked.

When auxclick happens

A nonprimary mouse button is clicked.

You can listen for it using addEventListener(). That keeps event handling separate from HTML attributes such as onclick and works well with modern code organization.

A small working example

<button id="demo-target" type="button">Try this button</button>
<p id="event-status" role="status">Waiting for auxclick...</p>
<script>
    const eventTarget = document.getElementById("demo-target");
    const eventStatus = document.getElementById("event-status");

    if (eventTarget) {
        eventTarget.addEventListener("auxclick", (eventDetails) => {
            eventStatus.textContent = "auxclick event received";
            console.log(eventDetails.type, eventDetails.target);
        });
    }
</script>

Reading the code

The browser listens for auxclick on the relevant target. When the event occurs, the callback receives eventDetails, updates the status message and logs the event name and target in Developer Tools.

Try the mouse wheel button; the primary click is reported separately.

Try it in your browser

Open the page, show the Console panel, and follow this test: Try the mouse wheel button; the primary click is reported separately. Then change one thing in the example and observe whether the event still fires.

Common Beginner Mistakes

• Expecting auxclick to fire without its required user action or browser condition.
• Try the mouse wheel button; the primary click is reported separately.
• Adding repeated event listeners without considering cleanup or unwanted side effects.

Key Takeaways

• auxclick reports a nonprimary mouse button is clicked.
• addEventListener("auxclick", ...) listens for the event on the appropriate target.
• Try the mouse wheel button; the primary click is reported separately.