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Keyboard

Keyboard provides an api for managing a virtual keyboard. The high level api is keyboard.type(), which takes raw characters and generates proper keydown, keypress/input, and keyup events on your page.

For finer control, you can use keyboard.down(), keyboard.up(), and keyboard.insertText() to manually fire events as if they were generated from a real keyboard.

An example of holding down Shift in order to select and delete some text:

await page.keyboard.type('Hello World!');
await page.keyboard.press('ArrowLeft');

await page.keyboard.down('Shift');
for (let i = 0; i < ' World'.length; i++)
  await page.keyboard.press('ArrowLeft');
await page.keyboard.up('Shift');

await page.keyboard.press('Backspace');
// Result text will end up saying 'Hello!'

An example of pressing uppercase A

await page.keyboard.press('Shift+KeyA');
// or
await page.keyboard.press('Shift+A');

An example to trigger select-all with the keyboard

// on Windows and Linux
await page.keyboard.press('Control+A');
// on macOS
await page.keyboard.press('Meta+A');

Methods​

down​

Added before v1.9 keyboard.down

Dispatches a keydown event.

key can specify the intended keyboardEvent.key value or a single character to generate the text for. A superset of the key values can be found here. Examples of the keys are:

F1 - F12, Digit0- Digit9, KeyA- KeyZ, Backquote, Minus, Equal, Backslash, Backspace, Tab, Delete, Escape, ArrowDown, End, Enter, Home, Insert, PageDown, PageUp, ArrowRight, ArrowUp, etc.

Following modification shortcuts are also supported: Shift, Control, Alt, Meta, ShiftLeft, ControlOrMeta. ControlOrMeta resolves to Control on Windows and Linux and to Meta on macOS.

Holding down Shift will type the text that corresponds to the key in the upper case.

If key is a single character, it is case-sensitive, so the values a and A will generate different respective texts.

If key is a modifier key, Shift, Meta, Control, or Alt, subsequent key presses will be sent with that modifier active. To release the modifier key, use keyboard.up().

After the key is pressed once, subsequent calls to keyboard.down() will have repeat set to true. To release the key, use keyboard.up().

note

Modifier keys DO influence keyboard.down. Holding down Shift will type the text in upper case.

Usage

await keyboard.down(key);

Arguments

  • key string#

    Name of the key to press or a character to generate, such as ArrowLeft or a.

Returns

insertText​

Added before v1.9 keyboard.insertText

Dispatches only input event, does not emit the keydown, keyup or keypress events.

Usage

page.keyboard.insertText('嗨');
note

Modifier keys DO NOT effect keyboard.insertText. Holding down Shift will not type the text in upper case.

Arguments

  • text string#

    Sets input to the specified text value.

Returns

press​

Added before v1.9 keyboard.press
tip

In most cases, you should use locator.press() instead.

key can specify the intended keyboardEvent.key value or a single character to generate the text for. A superset of the key values can be found here. Examples of the keys are:

F1 - F12, Digit0- Digit9, KeyA- KeyZ, Backquote, Minus, Equal, Backslash, Backspace, Tab, Delete, Escape, ArrowDown, End, Enter, Home, Insert, PageDown, PageUp, ArrowRight, ArrowUp, etc.

Following modification shortcuts are also supported: Shift, Control, Alt, Meta, ShiftLeft, ControlOrMeta. ControlOrMeta resolves to Control on Windows and Linux and to Meta on macOS.

Holding down Shift will type the text that corresponds to the key in the upper case.

If key is a single character, it is case-sensitive, so the values a and A will generate different respective texts.

Shortcuts such as key: "Control+o", key: "Control++ or key: "Control+Shift+T" are supported as well. When specified with the modifier, modifier is pressed and being held while the subsequent key is being pressed.

Usage

const page = await browser.newPage();
await page.goto('https://keycode.info');
await page.keyboard.press('A');
await page.screenshot({ path: 'A.png' });
await page.keyboard.press('ArrowLeft');
await page.screenshot({ path: 'ArrowLeft.png' });
await page.keyboard.press('Shift+O');
await page.screenshot({ path: 'O.png' });
await browser.close();

Shortcut for keyboard.down() and keyboard.up().

Arguments

  • key string#

    Name of the key to press or a character to generate, such as ArrowLeft or a.

  • options Object (optional)

    • delay number (optional)#

      Time to wait between keydown and keyup in milliseconds. Defaults to 0.

Returns

type​

Added before v1.9 keyboard.type
caution

In most cases, you should use locator.fill() instead. You only need to press keys one by one if there is special keyboard handling on the page - in this case use locator.pressSequentially().

Sends a keydown, keypress/input, and keyup event for each character in the text.

To press a special key, like Control or ArrowDown, use keyboard.press().

Usage

await page.keyboard.type('Hello'); // Types instantly
await page.keyboard.type('World', { delay: 100 }); // Types slower, like a user
note

Modifier keys DO NOT effect keyboard.type. Holding down Shift will not type the text in upper case.

note

For characters that are not on a US keyboard, only an input event will be sent.

Arguments

  • text string#

    A text to type into a focused element.

  • options Object (optional)

    • delay number (optional)#

      Time to wait between key presses in milliseconds. Defaults to 0.

Returns

up​

Added before v1.9 keyboard.up

Dispatches a keyup event.

Usage

await keyboard.up(key);

Arguments

  • key string#

    Name of the key to press or a character to generate, such as ArrowLeft or a.

Returns