CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascriptfindbrowser
Trevor Burnham
Trevor Burnham

Reputation: 77416

Override browser "Find" feature

I'm wondering whether it's possible to use JavaScript to intercept or prevent the user from using the browser's "Find" feature to find text on the page. (Trust me, I have a good reason!) I'm guessing the answer is "no," beyond the obvious intercepting Cmd/Ctrl+F.

A second-best solution would be to intercept the text highlighting that the browser performs during a Find. Is there any way to do this, in any browser?

Upvotes: 8

Views: 2308

Answers (3)

Shimon Brandsdorfer
Shimon Brandsdorfer

Reputation: 1723

To disable the effect pf the find feature, you can use this Jquery Plugin.

It can also be done with plain JavaScript, as follows:

        function disableFind() {
            var all = document.getElementsByTagName("*");
            var end = false;
            for(let idx in all){
                let currentElement = all[idx];
                let html = currentElement.innerHTML;
                if(!html) continue;
                let newHTML = "";
                for(var i = 0; i < html.length; i++) {
                    newHTML += html[i];
                    if (html[i] == '<') end = true;
                    if (html[i] == '>') end = false ;
                    if (end == false) {
                        newHTML += '<span style="position:absolute; left:-9999px;">.</span>';
                    }
                    if (html[i] == ' ') newHTML += ' ';   // insert a space if the current character is a space
                }
                currentElement.innerHTML = newHTML;
            }


        }

Additionally, you can prevent the default behavior of CTRL/CMD+F, with the following code:

 window.addEventListener("keydown", function(e){
     if(e.which == 70 && (e.ctrlKey || e.metaKey)) e.preventDefault(); 
  });

Upvotes: 2

Chris Lercher
Chris Lercher

Reputation: 37778

If you really, absolutely have to do that - then there's a (really bad) solution: Render the page as an image.

Upvotes: 1

Pekka
Pekka

Reputation: 449415

Not without the help of a browser-specific extension I think, if at all. This is a process that is entirely outside the JavaScript context.

Upvotes: 5

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