# How to check if document is ready using JavaScript

By Atta Ur Rehman Shah (https://attacomsian.com/about). Published Sep 30, 2020, updated Oct 14, 2022. Topics: JavaScript.
Canonical URL: https://attacomsian.com/blog/javascript-dom-check-if-document-is-ready

> Learn how to check if the document is ready and execute some code in pure JavaScript.

To check if the document is ready and run some code, you can [add an event handler](https://attacomsian.com/blog/javascript-dom-add-an-event-handler) to the `DOMContentLoaded` event of the `document` object.

The `DOMContentLoaded` event is fired when the initial HTML document has been fully loaded and parsed without waiting for stylesheets, images, and subframes to finish loading.

```javascript
// Define event handler
const handler = e => {
  console.log(`Document is ready!`)
}

// Listen for `DOMContentLoaded` event
document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', handler)
```

If you are not interested in reusing the event handler function, replace it with an anonymous function as shown below:

```javascript
// Listen for `DOMContentLoaded` event
document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', e => {
  console.log(`Document is ready!`)
})
```

The `DOMContentLoaded` event works in all modern browsers, including IE9 and above.