References

Beginner-friendly references for web development, with live, editable examples.

The HTML onanimationcancel event

Event All modern browsers Updated
Quick answer

The HTML onanimationcancel attribute runs JavaScript when a CSS animation is unexpectedly aborted. It is an inline handler for the animationcancel event; in modern code prefer addEventListener('animationcancel', …).

Overview

The onanimationcancel event attribute runs JavaScript when a CSS animation is canceled. In JavaScript the event itself is named animationcancel — drop the on prefix when you call addEventListener.

It is a CSS animation event. The handler receives an AnimationEvent with the animationName and elapsedTime, letting you run code at specific points in a CSS animation defined with @keyframes.

You can wire this up with the inline onanimationcancel HTML attribute, but the modern, recommended approach is element.addEventListener('animationcancel', handler) in JavaScript. That keeps behavior out of your markup, lets you attach several handlers to the same event, and makes them easy to remove. The inline attribute is fine for quick demos.

Syntax

<element onanimationcancel="handler()">…</element>

element.addEventListener('animationcancel', handler);

Best practices

  • Prefer element.addEventListener('animationcancel', handler) over the inline onanimationcancel attribute — it separates behavior from markup and allows multiple handlers.
  • Use it to run JavaScript at a precise point in a CSS animation without a timer.
  • Check event.animationName when an element has more than one animation.
  • Respect prefers-reduced-motion for the animations these events track.

Frequently asked questions

What is the onanimationcancel event?
It runs JavaScript when a CSS animation is canceled. In JavaScript the event is named animationcancel.
How do I run code when a CSS animation finishes?
Listen for the animationend event on the animated element.
How do I know which animation triggered the event?
Read event.animationName from the AnimationEvent.
Should I use the onanimationcancel attribute or addEventListener?
Prefer addEventListener('animationcancel', …) in JavaScript. The inline onanimationcancel attribute works but mixes behavior into the markup and allows only one handler per element.
onafterprint onanimationend