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What is the Drag and Drop API, and how do I use it to enable drag-and-drop functionality?
What is the Drag and Drop API, and how do I use it to enable drag-and-drop functionality?
Jun 25, 2025 am 01:06 AM
The Drag and Drop API is a built-in browser feature for drag-and-drop interaction. It supports multiple use cases: 1. Reorder to-do lists; 2. Build UI components that can place elements; 3. Implement drag-and-drop file uploads. When using it, you need to set draggable="true" and listen for dragstart events to enable drag, and set dropzone and handle dragover and drop events to receive drag and drop content. Note: Not all elements can be dragged by default, the data types need to be unified, and there may be restrictions on cross-domain and mobile terminals.
The Drag and Drop API is a built-in browser feature that lets you implement drag-and-drop interactions using JavaScript, without needing third-party libraries. It provides events and methods to track when users pick up an element, move it around, and drop it somewhere else — which makes it useful for tasks like reordering lists, uploading files by dragging them into a zone, or building visual editors.
What Can You Do With the Drag and Drop API?
The API gives you fine-grained control over different stages of a drag operation. Here are some typical use cases:
- Reorder items in a to-do list
- Build UI components where users can place elements (like widgets or blocks)
- Enable file uploads by dragging files from the desktop into a browser window
It works across most modern browsers and doesn't require any extra setup beyond basic HTML and JavaScript.
How to Make an Element Draggable
To enable drag behavior on an element, you need two things: set the draggable attribute to "true" and add event listeners for drag-related events.
For example:
<div id="dragBox" draggable="true">Drag me!</div>
Then in JavaScript, listen for the dragstart event:
document.getElementById('dragBox').addEventListener('dragstart', function(e) {
e.dataTransfer.setData('text/plain', e.target.id);
});Here's what's going on:
- The
draggable="true"attribute allows the element to be dragged. - The
dragstartevent is triggered when the user starts dragging. -
setData()stores data during the drag — usually the ID of the dragged element.
This step sets up the source of the drag action.
Setting Up a Drop Zone
Once you have something that can be dragged, you need a place where it can be dropped. That means setting up one or more drop zones with appropriate event handlers.
Example:
<div id="dropZone">Drop here</div>
JavaScript:
document.getElementById('dropZone').addEventListener('dragover', function(e) {
e.preventDefault(); // Allows dropping
});
document.getElementById('dropZone').addEventListener('drop', function(e) {
e.preventDefault();
const data = e.dataTransfer.getData('text/plain');
const draggedElement = document.getElementById(data);
e.target.appendChild(draggedElement);
});Key points:
- You must call
e.preventDefault()insidedragoverto allow dropping. - The
dropevent retrieves the dragged data and places it into the drop zone.
You can also add visual cues like highlighting the drop zone while dragging.
Common Pitfalls and Tips
Some behaviors aren't obvious unless you've worked with this before:
- Not all elements are draggable by default – only links, images, and selections. So always set
draggable="true"explicitly. - Data types matter – Use
'text/plain'unless you're working with custom formats. - Cross-origin issues apply – If dragging content from another domain, access may be restricted.
- Mobile support varies – Some mobile browsers don't fully support drag events without additional touch handling.
Also, remember to test across browsers. While most modern ones support the API, quirks still exist.
Basically that's it.
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