How to get the focused element with jQuery?

Question

Using jQuery, how can I get the input element that has the caret's (cursor's) focus?

Or in other words, how to determine if an input has the caret's focus?

Answer 1

Try this::

$(document).on("click",function(){
    alert(event.target);
    });

Answer 2

// Get the focused element:
var $focused = $(':focus');

// No jQuery:
var focused = document.activeElement;

// Does the element have focus:
var hasFocus = $('foo').is(':focus');

// No jQuery:
elem === elem.ownerDocument.activeElement;

Which one should you use? quoting the jQuery docs:

As with other pseudo-class selectors (those that begin with a ":"), it is recommended to precede :focus with a tag name or some other selector; otherwise, the universal selector ("*") is implied. In other words, the bare $(':focus') is equivalent to $('*:focus'). If you are looking for the currently focused element, $( document.activeElement ) will retrieve it without having to search the whole DOM tree.

The answer is:

document.activeElement

And if you want a jQuery object wrapping the element:

$(document.activeElement)

Answer 3

I've tested two ways in Firefox, Chrome, IE9 and Safari.

(1). $(document.activeElement) works as expected in Firefox, Chrome and Safari.

(2). $(':focus') works as expected in Firefox and Safari.

I moved into the mouse to input 'name' and pressed Enter on keyboard, then I tried to get the focused element.

(1). $(document.activeElement) returns the input:text:name as expected in Firefox, Chrome and Safari, but it returns input:submit:addPassword in IE9

(2). $(':focus') returns input:text:name as expected in Firefox and Safari, but nothing in IE

<form action="">
    <div id="block-1" class="border">
        <h4>block-1</h4>
        <input type="text" value="enter name here" name="name"/>            
        <input type="button" value="Add name" name="addName"/>
    </div>
    <div id="block-2" class="border">
        <h4>block-2</h4>
        <input type="text" value="enter password here" name="password"/>            
        <input type="submit" value="Add password" name="addPassword"/>
    </div>
</form>

Answer 4

Try this:

$(":focus").each(function() {
    alert("Focused Elem_id = "+ this.id );
});

Answer 5

How is it noone has mentioned..

document.activeElement.id

I am using IE8, and have not tested it on any other browser. In my case, I am using it to make sure a field is a minimum of 4 characters and focused before acting. Once you enter the 4th number, it triggers. The field has an id of 'year'. I am using..

if( $('#year').val().length >= 4 && document.activeElement.id == "year" ) {
    // action here
}

Answer 6

$( document.activeElement )

Will retrieve it without having to search the whole DOM tree as recommended on the jQuery documentation