The deprecated srcElement property of the Event interface is an alias for Event.target (MDN). Use event.target instead.
Read the notes below before you rely on this property. Prefer feature detection when support is limited.
Use event.srcElement. Start with this line.
event.srcElement| Call | What it does |
|---|---|
event.srcElement | Primary signature. |
Built into the browser. Read event.srcElement on an Event instance — no import required.
event.srcElement| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| currentTarget | Optional. Element running this listener |
| Delegation | Optional. Parent listens; inspect target |
| Return Value | Description |
|---|---|
| * | The current value of event.srcElement. |
srcElementOld IE-style code you may still see in the wild.
document.getElementById("btn").onclick = function (event) {
const el = event.srcElement; // deprecated
console.log(el.id);
};srcElement. Legacy name for the origin node.id. Same result as using target.event.targetSame intent with the standard property (MDN replacement).
document.getElementById("btn").addEventListener("click", (event) => {
console.log(event.target.id);
});addEventListener. Clearer than assigning onclick.event.target. Standard originating target.srcElement alias.target vs currentTargetWhen a parent listens, origin and listener can differ.
parent.addEventListener("click", (event) => {
console.log(event.target.id); // child that was clicked
console.log(event.srcElement.id); // same (deprecated)
console.log(event.currentTarget.id); // parent
});target / srcElement name the clicked child.currentTarget is the parent running the handler.srcElement; keep target.Event.srcElement is marked Deprecated on MDN. Engines still implement it as an alias of target for compatibility. New code should use event.target. Also available in Web Workers (still deprecated).
Legacy alias of Event.target — migrate to event.target.
Bottom line: Supported for compatibility, not for new APIs. Prefer event.target. See the MDN srcElement reference.
Learn the standard Event.target property in depth.
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