How to distinguish between left and right mouse click with jQuery

How do you obtain the clicked mouse button using jQuery?

$('div').bind('click', function(){
    alert('clicked');
});

this is triggered by both right and left click, what is the way of being able to catch right mouse click? I'd be happy if something like below exists:

$('div').bind('rightclick', function(){ 
    alert('right mouse button is pressed');
});

As of jQuery version 1.1.3, event.which normalizes event.keyCode and event.charCode so you don't have to worry about browser compatibility issues. Documentation on event.which

event.which will give 1, 2 or 3 for left, middle and right mouse buttons respectively so:

$('#element').mousedown(function(event) {
    switch (event.which) {
        case 1:
            alert('Left Mouse button pressed.');
            break;
        case 2:
            alert('Middle Mouse button pressed.');
            break;
        case 3:
            alert('Right Mouse button pressed.');
            break;
        default:
            alert('You have a strange Mouse!');
    }
});

Edit: I changed it to work for dynamically added elements using .on() in jQuery 1.7 or above:

$(document).on("contextmenu", ".element", function(e){
   alert('Context Menu event has fired!');
   return false;
});

Demo: jsfiddle.net/Kn9s7/5

[Start of original post] This is what worked for me:

$('.element').bind("contextmenu",function(e){
   alert('Context Menu event has fired!');
   return false;
}); 

In case you are into multiple solutions ^^

Edit: Tim Down brings up a good point that it's not always going to be a right-click that fires the contextmenu event, but also when the context menu key is pressed (which is arguably a replacement for a right-click)

You can easily tell which mouse button was pressed by checking the which property of the event object on mouse events:

/*
  1 = Left   mouse button
  2 = Centre mouse button
  3 = Right  mouse button
*/

$([selector]).mousedown(function(e) {
    if (e.which === 3) {
        /* Right mouse button was clicked! */
    }
});

You can also bind to contextmenu and return false:

$('selector').bind('contextmenu', function(e){
    e.preventDefault();
    //code
    return false;
});

Demo: http://jsfiddle.net/maniator/WS9S2/

Or you can make a quick plugin that does the same:

(function( $ ) {
  $.fn.rightClick = function(method) {

    $(this).bind('contextmenu rightclick', function(e){
        e.preventDefault();
        method();
        return false;
    });

  };
})( jQuery );

Demo: http://jsfiddle.net/maniator/WS9S2/2/

Using .on(...) jQuery >= 1.7:

$(document).on("contextmenu", "selector", function(e){
    e.preventDefault();
    //code
    return false;
});  //does not have to use `document`, it could be any container element.

Demo: http://jsfiddle.net/maniator/WS9S2/283/

$("#element").live('click', function(e) {
  if( (!$.browser.msie && e.button == 0) || ($.browser.msie && e.button == 1) ) {
       alert("Left Button");
    }
    else if(e.button == 2){
       alert("Right Button");
    }
});

Update for the current state of the things:

var $log = $("div.log");
$("div.target").on("mousedown", function() {
  $log.text("Which: " + event.which);
  if (event.which === 1) {
    $(this).removeClass("right middle").addClass("left");
  } else if (event.which === 2) {
    $(this).removeClass("left right").addClass("middle");
  } else if (event.which === 3) {
    $(this).removeClass("left middle").addClass("right");
  }
});

div.target {
  border: 1px solid blue;
  height: 100px;
  width: 100px;
}

div.target.left {
  background-color: #0faf3d;
}

div.target.right {
  background-color: #f093df;
}

div.target.middle {
  background-color: #00afd3;
}

div.log {
  text-align: left;
  color: #f00;
}

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<div class="target"></div>
<div class="log"></div>

$.event.special.rightclick = {
    bindType: "contextmenu",
    delegateType: "contextmenu"
};

$(document).on("rightclick", "div", function() {
    console.log("hello");
    return false;
});

http://jsfiddle.net/SRX3y/8/

There are a lot of very good answers, but I just want to touch on one major difference between IE9 and IE < 9 when using event.button.

According to the old Microsoft specification for event.button the codes differ from the ones used by W3C. W3C considers only 3 cases:

1. Left mouse button is clicked - event.button === 1
2. Right mouse button is clicked - event.button === 3
3. Middle mouse button is clicked - event.button === 2

In older Internet Explorers however Microsoft are flipping a bit for the pressed button and there are 8 cases:

1. No button is clicked - event.button === 0 or 000
2. Left button is clicked - event.button === 1 or 001
3. Right button is clicked - event.button === 2 or 010
4. Left and right buttons are clicked - event.button === 3 or 011
5. Middle button is clicked - event.button === 4 or 100
6. Middle and left buttons are clicked - event.button === 5 or 101
7. Middle and right buttons are clicked - event.button === 6 or 110
8. All 3 buttons are clicked - event.button === 7 or 111

Despite the fact that this is theoretically how it should work, no Internet Explorer has ever supported the cases of two or three buttons simultaneously pressed. I am mentioning it because the W3C standard cannot even theoretically support this.

It seems to me that a slight adaptation of TheVillageIdiot's answer would be cleaner:

$('#element').bind('click', function(e) {
  if (e.button == 2) {
    alert("Right click");
  }
  else {
    alert("Some other click");
  }
}

EDIT: JQuery provides an e.which attribute, returning 1, 2, 3 for left, middle, and right click respectively. So you could also use if (e.which == 3) { alert("right click"); }

See also: answers to "Triggering onclick event using middle click"

event.which === 1 ensures it's a left-click (when using jQuery).

But you should also think about modifier keys: ctrlcmdshiftalt

If you're only interested in catching simple, unmodified left-clicks, you can do something like this:

var isSimpleClick = function (event) {
  return !(
    event.which !== 1 || // not a left click
    event.metaKey ||     // "open link in new tab" (mac)
    event.ctrlKey ||     // "open link in new tab" (windows/linux)
    event.shiftKey ||    // "open link in new window"
    event.altKey         // "save link as"
  );
};

$('a').on('click', function (event) {
  if (isSimpleClick(event)) {
    event.preventDefault();
    // do something...
  }
});

there is also a way, to do it without JQuery!

check out this:

document.addEventListener("mousedown", function(evt) {
    switch(evt.buttons) {
      case 1: // left mouse
      case 2: // right mouse
      case 3: // middle mouse <- I didn't tested that, I just got a touchpad
    }
});

you can try this code:

event.button

Return Value: A Number, representing which mouse button that was pressed when the mouse event occured.

Possible values:

• 0 : Left mouse button
• 1 : Wheel button or middle button (if present)
• 2 : Right mouse button

Note: Internet Explorer 8 and earlier has different return values:

• 1 : Left mouse button
• 2 : Right mouse button
• 4 : Wheel button or middle button (if present) Note: For a left-hand configured mouse, the return values are reversed

To those who are wondering if they should or not use event.which in vanilla JS or Angular : It's now deprecated so prefer using event.buttons instead.

Note : With this method and (mousedown) event:

• left click press is associated to 1
• right click press is associated to 2
• scroll button press is associated with 4

and (mouseup) event will NOT return the same numbers but 0 instead.

Source : https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/MouseEvent/buttons

Oold old post - but thought would share with complete answer to people asking above about all mouse click event types.

Add this script so it applies to the entire page:

var onMousedown = function (e) {
     if (e.which === 1) {/* Left Mouse Click */}
     else if (e.which === 2) {/* Middle Mouse Click */}
     else if (e.which === 3) {/* Right Mouse Click */}
};
clickArea.addEventListener("mousedown", onMousedown);

Note: Make sure you 'return false;' on the element being clicked - is really important.

Cheers!

If you are looking for "Better Javascript Mouse Events" which allow for

• left mousedown
• middle mousedown
• right mousedown
• left mouseup
• middle mouseup
• right mouseup
• left click
• middle click
• right click
• mousewheel up
• mousewheel down

Have a look at this cross browser normal javascript which triggers the above events, and removes the headache work. Just copy and paste it into the head of your script, or include it in a file in the <head> of your document. Then bind your events, refer to the next code block below which shows a jquery example of capturing the events and firing the functions assigned to them, though this works with normal javascript binding as well.

If your interested in seeing it work, have a look at the jsFiddle: https://jsfiddle.net/BNefn/

/**
   Better Javascript Mouse Events
   Author: Casey Childers
**/
(function(){
	// use addEvent cross-browser shim: https://gist.github.com/dciccale/5394590/
    var addEvent = function(a,b,c){try{a.addEventListener(b,c,!1)}catch(d){a.attachEvent('on'+b,c)}};
    
    /* This function detects what mouse button was used, left, right, middle, or middle scroll either direction */
    function GetMouseButton(e) {
        e = window.event || e; // Normalize event variable
        
        var button = '';
        if (e.type == 'mousedown' || e.type == 'click' || e.type == 'contextmenu' || e.type == 'mouseup') {
            if (e.which == null) {
                button = (e.button < 2) ? "left" : ((e.button == 4) ? "middle" : "right");
            } else {
                button = (e.which < 2) ? "left" : ((e.which == 2) ? "middle" : "right");
            }
        } else {
            var direction = e.detail ? e.detail * (-120) : e.wheelDelta;
            switch (direction) {
                case 120:
                case 240:
                case 360:
                    button = "up";
                break;
                case -120:
                case -240:
                case -360:
                    button = "down";
                break;
            }
        }
        
        var type = e.type
        if(e.type == 'contextmenu') {type = "click";}
        if(e.type == 'DOMMouseScroll') {type = "mousewheel";}

		switch(button) {
            case 'contextmenu':
        	case 'left':
            case 'middle':
            case 'up':
            case 'down':
            case 'right':
                if (document.createEvent) {
                  event = new Event(type+':'+button);
                  e.target.dispatchEvent(event);
                } else {
                  event = document.createEventObject();
                  e.target.fireEvent('on'+type+':'+button, event);
                }
            break;
        }
    }

 	addEvent(window, 'mousedown', GetMouseButton);
    addEvent(window, 'mouseup', GetMouseButton);
    addEvent(window, 'click', GetMouseButton);
    addEvent(window, 'contextmenu', GetMouseButton);
 
    /* One of FireFox's browser versions doesn't recognize mousewheel, we account for that in this line */
	var MouseWheelEvent = (/Firefox/i.test(navigator.userAgent)) ? "DOMMouseScroll" : "mousewheel";
    addEvent(window, MouseWheelEvent, GetMouseButton);
})();

Better Mouse Click Events Example (uses jquery for simplicity, but the above will work cross browser and fire the same event names, IE uses on before the names)

<div id="Test"></div>
<script type="text/javascript">
    $('#Test').on('mouseup',function(e){$(this).append(e.type+'<br />');})
		      .on('mouseup:left',function(e){$(this).append(e.type+'<br />');})
		      .on('mouseup:middle',function(e){$(this).append(e.type+'<br />');})
		      .on('mouseup:right',function(e){$(this).append(e.type+'<br />');})
          
              .on('click',function(e){$(this).append(e.type+'<br />');})
              .on('click:left',function(e){$(this).append(e.type+'<br />');})
		      .on('click:middle',function(e){$(this).append(e.type+'<br />');})
		      .on('click:right',function(e){$(this).append(e.type+'<br />');})
          
              .on('mousedown',function(e){$(this).html('').append(e.type+'<br />');})
              .on('mousedown:left',function(e){$(this).append(e.type+'<br />');})
		      .on('mousedown:middle',function(e){$(this).append(e.type+'<br />');})
		      .on('mousedown:right',function(e){$(this).append(e.type+'<br />');})
					
              .on('mousewheel',function(e){$(this).append(e.type+'<br />');})
              .on('mousewheel:up',function(e){$(this).append(e.type+'<br />');})
		      .on('mousewheel:down',function(e){$(this).append(e.type+'<br />');})
              ;
</script>

And for those who are in need of the minified version...

!function(){function e(e){e=window.event||e;var t="";if("mousedown"==e.type||"click"==e.type||"contextmenu"==e.type||"mouseup"==e.type)t=null==e.which?e.button<2?"left":4==e.button?"middle":"right":e.which<2?"left":2==e.which?"middle":"right";else{var n=e.detail?-120*e.detail:e.wheelDelta;switch(n){case 120:case 240:case 360:t="up";break;case-120:case-240:case-360:t="down"}}var c=e.type;switch("contextmenu"==e.type&&(c="click"),"DOMMouseScroll"==e.type&&(c="mousewheel"),t){case"contextmenu":case"left":case"middle":case"up":case"down":case"right":document.createEvent?(event=new Event(c+":"+t),e.target.dispatchEvent(event)):(event=document.createEventObject(),e.target.fireEvent("on"+c+":"+t,event))}}var t=function(e,t,n){try{e.addEventListener(t,n,!1)}catch(c){e.attachEvent("on"+t,n)}};t(window,"mousedown",e),t(window,"mouseup",e),t(window,"click",e),t(window,"contextmenu",e);var n=/Firefox/i.test(navigator.userAgent)?"DOMMouseScroll":"mousewheel";t(window,n,e)}();

$("body").on({
    click: function(){alert("left click");},
    contextmenu: function(){alert("right click");}   
});

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>JS Mouse Events - Button Demo</title>
</head>
<body>
    <button id="btn">Click me with any mouse button: left, right, middle, ...</button>
    <p id="message"></p>
    <script>
        let btn = document.querySelector('#btn');

        // disable context menu when right-mouse clicked
        btn.addEventListener('contextmenu', (e) => {
            e.preventDefault();
        });

        // show the mouse event message
        btn.addEventListener('mouseup', (e) => {
            let msg = document.querySelector('#message');
            switch (e.button) {
                case 0:
                    msg.textContent = 'Left mouse button clicked.';
                    break;
                case 1:
                    msg.textContent = 'Middle mouse button clicked.';
                    break;
                case 2:
                    msg.textContent = 'Right mouse button clicked.';
                    break;
                default:
                    msg.textContent = `Unknown mouse button code: ${event.button}`;
            }
        });
    </script>
</body>
</html>

$(document).ready(function () {
    var resizing = false;
    var frame = $("#frame");
    var origHeightFrame = frame.height();
    var origwidthFrame = frame.width();
    var origPosYGrip = $("#frame-grip").offset().top;
    var origPosXGrip = $("#frame-grip").offset().left;
    var gripHeight = $("#frame-grip").height();
    var gripWidth = $("#frame-grip").width();

    $("#frame-grip").mouseup(function (e) {
        resizing = false;
    });

    $("#frame-grip").mousedown(function (e) {
        resizing = true;
    });
    document.onmousemove = getMousepoints;
    var mousex = 0, mousey = 0, scrollTop = 0, scrollLeft = 0;
    function getMousepoints() {
        if (resizing) {
            var MouseBtnClick = event.which;
            if (MouseBtnClick == 1) {
                scrollTop = document.documentElement ? document.documentElement.scrollTop : document.body.scrollTop;
                scrollLeft = document.documentElement ? document.documentElement.scrollLeft : document.body.scrollLeft;
                mousex = event.clientX + scrollLeft;
                mousey = event.clientY + scrollTop;

                frame.height(mousey);
                frame.width(mousex);
            }
            else {
                resizing = false;
            }
        }
        return true;

    }


});

With jquery you can use event object type

jQuery(".element").on("click contextmenu", function(e){
   if(e.type == "contextmenu") {
       alert("Right click");
   }
});

$.fn.rightclick = function(func){
	$(this).mousedown(function(event){
		if(event.button == 2) {
			var oncontextmenu = document.oncontextmenu;
			document.oncontextmenu = function(){return false;};
			setTimeout(function(){document.oncontextmenu = oncontextmenu;},300);
			func(event);
			return false;
		}
	});
};

$('.item').rightclick(function(e){ 
	alert("item");
}); 

you can try this code:

event.button

Return Value: A Number, representing which mouse button that was pressed when the mouse event occured.

Possible values:

0 : Left mouse button 1 : Wheel button or middle button (if present) 2 : Right mouse button Note: Internet Explorer 8 and earlier has different return values:

1 : Left mouse button 2 : Right mouse button 4 : Wheel button or middle button (if present) Note: For a left-hand configured mouse, the return values are reversed

    $.event.special.rightclick = {
     bindType: "contextmenu",
        delegateType: "contextmenu"
      };

   $(document).on("rightclick", "div", function() {
   console.log("hello");
    return false;
    });