Detect click outside element

There is the solution I used, which is based on Linus Borg answer and works fine with vue.js 2.0.

Vue.directive('click-outside', {
  bind: function (el, binding, vnode) {
    el.clickOutsideEvent = function (event) {
      // here I check that click was outside the el and his children
      if (!(el == event.target || el.contains(event.target))) {
        // and if it did, call method provided in attribute value
        vnode.context[binding.expression](event);
      }
    };
    document.body.addEventListener('click', el.clickOutsideEvent)
  },
  unbind: function (el) {
    document.body.removeEventListener('click', el.clickOutsideEvent)
  },
});

You bind to it using v-click-outside:

<div v-click-outside="doStuff">

Here's a small demo

You can find some more info about custom directives and what el, binding, vnode means in https://v2.vuejs.org/v2/guide/custom-directive.html#Directive-Hook-Arguments

Add tabindex attribute to your component so that it can be focused and do the following:

<template>
    <div
        @focus="handleFocus"
        @focusout="handleFocusOut"
        tabindex="0"
    >
      SOME CONTENT HERE
    </div>
</template>

<script>
export default {    
    methods: {
        handleFocus() {
            // do something here
        },
        handleFocusOut() {
            // do something here
        }
    }
}
</script>

Keep in attention that this solution only works with Vue 1.

Can be solved nicely by setting up a custom directive once:

Vue.directive('click-outside', {
  bind () {
      this.event = event => this.vm.$emit(this.expression, event)
      this.el.addEventListener('click', this.stopProp)
      document.body.addEventListener('click', this.event)
  },   
  unbind() {
    this.el.removeEventListener('click', this.stopProp)
    document.body.removeEventListener('click', this.event)
  },

  stopProp(event) { event.stopPropagation() }
})

Usage:

<div v-click-outside="nameOfCustomEventToCall">
  Some content
</div>

In the component:

events: {
  nameOfCustomEventToCall: function (event) {
    // do something - probably hide the dropdown menu / modal etc.
  }
}

Working Demo on JSFiddle with additional info about caveats:

https://jsfiddle.net/Linusborg/yzm8t8jq/

There are two packages available in the community for this task (both are maintained):

https://github.com/simplesmiler/vue-clickaway

https://github.com/ndelvalle/v-click-outside

For Vue 3:

This answer is based on MadisonTrash's great answer above but updated to use new Vue 3 syntax.

Vue 3 now uses beforeMount instead of bind, and unmounted instead of unbind (src).

const clickOutside = {
  beforeMount: (el, binding) => {
    el.clickOutsideEvent = event => {
      // here I check that click was outside the el and his children
      if (!(el == event.target || el.contains(event.target))) {
        // and if it did, call method provided in attribute value
        binding.value();
      }
    };
    document.addEventListener("click", el.clickOutsideEvent);
  },
  unmounted: el => {
    document.removeEventListener("click", el.clickOutsideEvent);
  },
};

createApp(App)
  .directive("click-outside", clickOutside)
  .mount("#app");

I did it a slightly different way using a function within created().

  created() {
      window.addEventListener('click', (e) => {
        if (!this.$el.contains(e.target)){
          this.showMobileNav = false
        }
      })
  },

This way, if someone clicks outside of the element, then in my case, the mobile nav is hidden.

I have combined all answers (including a line from vue-clickaway) and came up with this solution that works for me:

Vue.directive('click-outside', {
    bind(el, binding, vnode) {
        var vm = vnode.context;
        var callback = binding.value;

        el.clickOutsideEvent = function (event) {
            if (!(el == event.target || el.contains(event.target))) {
                return callback.call(vm, event);
            }
        };
        document.body.addEventListener('click', el.clickOutsideEvent);
    },
    unbind(el) {
        document.body.removeEventListener('click', el.clickOutsideEvent);
    }
});

Use in component:

<li v-click-outside="closeSearch">
  <!-- your component here -->
</li>

This Worked for me with Vue.js 2.5.2 :

/**
 * Call a function when a click is detected outside of the
 * current DOM node ( AND its children )
 *
 * Example :
 *
 * <template>
 *   <div v-click-outside="onClickOutside">Hello</div>
 * </template>
 *
 * <script>
 * import clickOutside from '../../../../directives/clickOutside'
 * export default {
 *   directives: {
 *     clickOutside
 *   },
 *   data () {
 *     return {
         showDatePicker: false
 *     }
 *   },
 *   methods: {
 *     onClickOutside (event) {
 *       this.showDatePicker = false
 *     }
 *   }
 * }
 * </script>
 */
export default {
  bind: function (el, binding, vNode) {
    el.__vueClickOutside__ = event => {
      if (!el.contains(event.target)) {
        // call method provided in v-click-outside value
        vNode.context[binding.expression](event)
        event.stopPropagation()
      }
    }
    document.body.addEventListener('click', el.__vueClickOutside__)
  },
  unbind: function (el, binding, vNode) {
    // Remove Event Listeners
    document.body.removeEventListener('click', el.__vueClickOutside__)
    el.__vueClickOutside__ = null
  }
}

If you're specifically looking for a click outside the element but still within the parent, you can use

<div class="parent" @click.self="onParentClick">
  <div class="child"></div>
</div>

I use this for modals.

Vue 3 has breaking changes in directives, all of <Vue3 methods were changed/updated. If you wonder, how to do it in Vue 3, Here's the snippet. For information please go through this link

<div v-click-outside="methodToInvoke"></div>

click-outside.js

export default {
  beforeMount: function (el, binding, vnode) {
    binding.event = function (event) {
      if (!(el === event.target || el.contains(event.target))) {
        if (binding.value instanceof Function) {
          binding.value(event)
        }
      }
    }
    document.body.addEventListener('click', binding.event)
  },
  unmounted: function (el, binding, vnode) {
    document.body.removeEventListener('click', binding.event)
  }
}

and In main.js add the following

// Directives
import ClickOutside from './click-outside'

createApp(App)
 .directive('click-outside', ClickOutside)
 .use(IfAnyModules)
 .mount('#app')

I have updated MadisonTrash's answer to support Mobile Safari (which does not have click event, touchend must be used instead). This also incorporates a check so that the event isn't triggered by dragging on mobile devices.

Vue.directive('click-outside', {
    bind: function (el, binding, vnode) {
        el.eventSetDrag = function () {
            el.setAttribute('data-dragging', 'yes');
        }
        el.eventClearDrag = function () {
            el.removeAttribute('data-dragging');
        }
        el.eventOnClick = function (event) {
            var dragging = el.getAttribute('data-dragging');
            // Check that the click was outside the el and its children, and wasn't a drag
            if (!(el == event.target || el.contains(event.target)) && !dragging) {
                // call method provided in attribute value
                vnode.context[binding.expression](event);
            }
        };
        document.addEventListener('touchstart', el.eventClearDrag);
        document.addEventListener('touchmove', el.eventSetDrag);
        document.addEventListener('click', el.eventOnClick);
        document.addEventListener('touchend', el.eventOnClick);
    }, unbind: function (el) {
        document.removeEventListener('touchstart', el.eventClearDrag);
        document.removeEventListener('touchmove', el.eventSetDrag);
        document.removeEventListener('click', el.eventOnClick);
        document.removeEventListener('touchend', el.eventOnClick);
        el.removeAttribute('data-dragging');
    },
});

export default {
  bind: function (el, binding, vNode) {
    // Provided expression must evaluate to a function.
    if (typeof binding.value !== 'function') {
      const compName = vNode.context.name
      let warn = `[Vue-click-outside:] provided expression '${binding.expression}' is not a function, but has to be`
      if (compName) { warn += `Found in component '${compName}'` }

      console.warn(warn)
    }
    // Define Handler and cache it on the element
    const bubble = binding.modifiers.bubble
    const handler = (e) => {
      if (bubble || (!el.contains(e.target) && el !== e.target)) {
        binding.value(e)
      }
    }
    el.__vueClickOutside__ = handler

    // add Event Listeners
    document.addEventListener('click', handler)
  },

  unbind: function (el, binding) {
    // Remove Event Listeners
    document.removeEventListener('click', el.__vueClickOutside__)
    el.__vueClickOutside__ = null

  }
}

Complete case for vue 3

This is a complete solution based on MadisonTrash answer, and benrwb and fredrivett tweaks for safari compatibility and vue 3 api changes.

Edit:

The solution proposed below is still useful, and the how to use is still valid, but I changed it to use document.elementsFromPoint instead of event.contains because it doesn't recognise as children some elements like the <path> tags inside svgs. So the right directive is this one:

export default {
    beforeMount: (el, binding) => {
        el.eventSetDrag = () => {
            el.setAttribute("data-dragging", "yes");
        };
        el.eventClearDrag = () => {
            el.removeAttribute("data-dragging");
        };
        el.eventOnClick = event => {
            const dragging = el.getAttribute("data-dragging");
            // Check that the click was outside the el and its children, and wasn't a drag
            console.log(document.elementsFromPoint(event.clientX, event.clientY))
            if (!document.elementsFromPoint(event.clientX, event.clientY).includes(el) && !dragging) {
                // call method provided in attribute value
                binding.value(event);
            }
        };
        document.addEventListener("touchstart", el.eventClearDrag);
        document.addEventListener("touchmove", el.eventSetDrag);
        document.addEventListener("click", el.eventOnClick);
        document.addEventListener("touchend", el.eventOnClick);
    },
    unmounted: el => {
        document.removeEventListener("touchstart", el.eventClearDrag);
        document.removeEventListener("touchmove", el.eventSetDrag);
        document.removeEventListener("click", el.eventOnClick);
        document.removeEventListener("touchend", el.eventOnClick);
        el.removeAttribute("data-dragging");
    },
};

Old answer:

Directive

const clickOutside = {
    beforeMount: (el, binding) => {
        el.eventSetDrag = () => {
            el.setAttribute("data-dragging", "yes");
        };
        el.eventClearDrag = () => {
            el.removeAttribute("data-dragging");
        };
        el.eventOnClick = event => {
            const dragging = el.getAttribute("data-dragging");  
            // Check that the click was outside the el and its children, and wasn't a drag
            if (!(el == event.target || el.contains(event.target)) && !dragging) {
                // call method provided in attribute value
                binding.value(event);
            }
        };
        document.addEventListener("touchstart", el.eventClearDrag);
        document.addEventListener("touchmove", el.eventSetDrag);
        document.addEventListener("click", el.eventOnClick);
        document.addEventListener("touchend", el.eventOnClick);
    },
    unmounted: el => {
        document.removeEventListener("touchstart", el.eventClearDrag);
        document.removeEventListener("touchmove", el.eventSetDrag);
        document.removeEventListener("click", el.eventOnClick);
        document.removeEventListener("touchend", el.eventOnClick);
        el.removeAttribute("data-dragging");
    },
}

createApp(App)
  .directive("click-outside", clickOutside)
  .mount("#app");

This solution watch the element and the element's children of the component where the directive is applied to check if the event.target element is also a child. If that's the case it will not trigger, because it's inside the component.

How to use it

You only have to use as any directive, with a method reference to handle the trigger:

<template>
    <div v-click-outside="myMethod">
        <div class="handle" @click="doAnotherThing($event)">
            <div>Any content</div>
        </div>
    </div>
</template>

I create a div at the end of the body like that:

<div v-if="isPopup" class="outside" v-on:click="away()"></div>

Where .outside is :

.outside {
  width: 100vw;
  height: 100vh;
  position: fixed;
  top: 0px;
  left: 0px;
}

And away() is a method in Vue instance :

away() {
 this.isPopup = false;
}

I use this code:

show-hide button

 <a @click.stop="visualSwitch()"> show hide </a>

show-hide element

<div class="dialog-popup" v-if="visualState" @click.stop=""></div>

script

data () { return {
    visualState: false,
}},
methods: {
    visualSwitch() {
        this.visualState = !this.visualState;
        if (this.visualState)
            document.addEventListener('click', this.visualState);
        else
            document.removeEventListener('click', this.visualState);
    },
},

Update: remove watch; add stop propagation

I hate additional functions so... here is an awesome vue solution without an additional vue methods, only var

create html element, set controls and directive

    <p @click="popup = !popup" v-out="popup">

    <div v-if="popup">
       My awesome popup
    </div>

create a var in data like

data:{
   popup: false,
}

add vue directive. its

Vue.directive('out', {

    bind: function (el, binding, vNode) {
        const handler = (e) => {
            if (!el.contains(e.target) && el !== e.target) {
                //and here is you toggle var. thats it
                vNode.context[binding.expression] = false
            }
        }
        el.out = handler
        document.addEventListener('click', handler)
    },

    unbind: function (el, binding) {
        document.removeEventListener('click', el.out)
        el.out = null
    }
})

There are already many answers to this question, and most of them are based on the similar custom directive idea. The problem with this approach is that one have to pass a method function to the directive, and cannot directly write code as in other events.

I created a new package vue-on-clickout that is different. Check it out at:

https://github.com/MuTsunTsai/vue-on-clickout

It allows one to write v-on:clickout just like any other events. For example, you can write

<div v-on:clickout="myField=value" v-on:click="myField=otherValue">...</div>

and it works.

Update

vue-on-clickout now supports Vue 3!

Update 2

vue-on-clickout is now replaced by a new package Clickout-Event which works for any front-end framework (or vanilla)!

You can register two event listeners for click event like this

document.getElementById("some-area")
        .addEventListener("click", function(e){
        alert("You clicked on the area!");
        e.stopPropagation();// this will stop propagation of this event to upper level
     }
);

document.body.addEventListener("click", 
   function(e) {
           alert("You clicked outside the area!");
         }
);

For those using Vue 3.

Vue3 has changed the syntax for Directive Hooks:

Bind -> beforeMount

Unbind -> unmounted

To detect a click outside an element in Vue 3:

click-outside.js

export default function directive(app) {
  // you can name the directive whatever you want. -> click-outside
  app.directive('click-outside', {
    beforeMount(el, binding) {
      el.clickOutsideEvent = (evt) => {
        evt.stopPropagation();
        if (!(el === evt.target || el.contains(evt.target))) {
          binding.value(evt, el);
        }
      };
      window.requestAnimationFrame(() => {
        document.addEventListener("click", el.clickOutsideEvent);
      });
    },
    unmounted(el) {
      document.removeEventListener("click", el.clickOutsideEvent);
    },
  })
}

Register directive:

main.js

import { createApp } from "vue";
import App from "./App.vue";

// Import your directive, in order to register it.
import clickOutside from "./directives/click-outside.js"

createApp(App).use(clickOutside).mount("#app");

Usage:

<template>
  <div class="dropdown" v-click-outside="() => hideDropdown()"></div>
</template>
<script setup>
  function hideDropdown() {
    console.log("close dropdown")
  }
</script>

### OR 

<script>
  methods: {
    hideDropdown() {
      console.log("close dropdown")
    }
  }
</script> 

The short answer: This should be done with Custom Directives.

There are a lot of great answers here that also say this, but most of the answers I have seen break down when you start using outside-click extensively (especially layered or with multiple excludes). I have written an article on medium talking about the nuances of Custom Directives and specifically implementation of this one. It may not cover all edge cases but it has covered everything I have thought up.

This will account for multiple bindings, multiple levels of other element exclusions and allow your handler to only manage the "business logic".

Here's the code for at least the definition portion of it, check out the article for full explanation.

var handleOutsideClick={}
const OutsideClick = {
  // this directive is run on the bind and unbind hooks
  bind (el, binding, vnode) {
    // Define the function to be called on click, filter the excludes and call the handler
    handleOutsideClick[el.id] = e => {
      e.stopPropagation()
      // extract the handler and exclude from the binding value
      const { handler, exclude } = binding.value
      // set variable to keep track of if the clicked element is in the exclude list
      let clickedOnExcludedEl = false
      // if the target element has no classes, it won't be in the exclude list skip the check
      if (e.target._prevClass !== undefined) {
        // for each exclude name check if it matches any of the target element's classes
        for (const className of exclude) {
          clickedOnExcludedEl = e.target._prevClass.includes(className)
          if (clickedOnExcludedEl) {
            break // once we have found one match, stop looking
          }
        }
      }
      // don't call the handler if our directive element contains the target element
      // or if the element was in the exclude list
      if (!(el.contains(e.target) || clickedOnExcludedEl)) {
        handler()
      }
    }
    // Register our outsideClick handler on the click/touchstart listeners
    document.addEventListener('click', handleOutsideClick[el.id])
    document.addEventListener('touchstart', handleOutsideClick[el.id])
    document.onkeydown = e => {
      //this is an option but may not work right with multiple handlers
      if (e.keyCode === 27) {
        // TODO: there are minor issues when escape is clicked right after open keeping the old target
        handleOutsideClick[el.id](e)
      }
    }
  },
  unbind () {
    // If the element that has v-outside-click is removed, unbind it from listeners
    document.removeEventListener('click', handleOutsideClick[el.id])
    document.removeEventListener('touchstart', handleOutsideClick[el.id])
    document.onkeydown = null //Note that this may not work with multiple listeners
  }
}
export default OutsideClick

You can emit custom native javascript event from a directive. Create a directive that dispatches an event from the node, using node.dispatchEvent

let handleOutsideClick;
Vue.directive('out-click', {
    bind (el, binding, vnode) {

        handleOutsideClick = (e) => {
            e.stopPropagation()
            const handler = binding.value

            if (el.contains(e.target)) {
                el.dispatchEvent(new Event('out-click')) <-- HERE
            }
        }

        document.addEventListener('click', handleOutsideClick)
        document.addEventListener('touchstart', handleOutsideClick)
    },
    unbind () {
        document.removeEventListener('click', handleOutsideClick)
        document.removeEventListener('touchstart', handleOutsideClick)
    }
})

Which can be used like this

h3( v-out-click @click="$emit('show')" @out-click="$emit('hide')" )

If you have a component with multiple elements inside of the root element you can use this It just works™ solution with a boolean.

<template>
  <div @click="clickInside"></div>
<template>

<script>
export default {
  name: "MyComponent",
  methods: {
    clickInside() {
      this.inside = true;
      setTimeout(() => (this.inside = false), 0);
    },
    clickOutside() {
      if (this.inside) return;
      // handle outside state from here
    }
  },
  created() {
    this.__handlerRef__ = this.clickOutside.bind(this);
    document.body.addEventListener("click", this.__handlerRef__);
  },
  destroyed() {
    document.body.removeEventListener("click", this.__handlerRef__);
  },
};
</script>

  <button 
    class="dropdown"
    @click.prevent="toggle"
    ref="toggle"
    :class="{'is-active': isActiveEl}"
  >
    Click me
  </button>

  data() {
   return {
     isActiveEl: false
   }
  }, 
  created() {
    window.addEventListener('click', this.close);
  },
  beforeDestroy() {
    window.removeEventListener('click', this.close);
  },
  methods: {
    toggle: function() {
      this.isActiveEl = !this.isActiveEl;
    },
    close(e) {
      if (!this.$refs.toggle.contains(e.target)) {
        this.isActiveEl = false;
      }
    },
  },

Frequently people want to know if user leave root component (works with any level components)

Vue({ data: {}, methods: { unfocused : function() { alert('good bye'); } } })

I am using this package : https://www.npmjs.com/package/vue-click-outside

It works fine for me

HTML :

<div class="__card-content" v-click-outside="hide" v-if="cardContentVisible">
    <div class="card-header">
        <input class="subject-input" placeholder="Subject" name=""/>
    </div>
    <div class="card-body">
        <textarea class="conversation-textarea" placeholder="Start a conversation"></textarea>
    </div>
</div>

My script codes :

import ClickOutside from 'vue-click-outside'
export default
{
    data(){
        return {
            cardContentVisible:false
        }
    },
    created()
    {
    },
    methods:
        {
            openCardContent()
            {
                this.cardContentVisible = true;
            }, hide () {
            this.cardContentVisible = false
                }
        },
    directives: {
            ClickOutside
    }
}

@Denis Danilenko solutions works for me, here's what I did: By the way I'm using VueJS CLI3 and NuxtJS here and with Bootstrap4, but it will work on VueJS without NuxtJS also:

<div
    class="dropdown ml-auto"
    :class="showDropdown ? null : 'show'">
    <a 
        href="#" 
        class="nav-link" 
        role="button" 
        id="dropdownMenuLink" 
        data-toggle="dropdown" 
        aria-haspopup="true" 
        aria-expanded="false"
        @click="showDropdown = !showDropdown"
        @blur="unfocused">
        <i class="fas fa-bars"></i>
    </a>
    <div 
        class="dropdown-menu dropdown-menu-right" 
        aria-labelledby="dropdownMenuLink"
        :class="showDropdown ? null : 'show'">
        <nuxt-link class="dropdown-item" to="/contact">Contact</nuxt-link>
        <nuxt-link class="dropdown-item" to="/faq">FAQ</nuxt-link>
    </div>
</div>

export default {
    data() {
        return {
            showDropdown: true
        }
    },
    methods: {
    unfocused() {
        this.showDropdown = !this.showDropdown;
    }
  }
}

Use this package vue-click-outside

It's simple and reliable, currently used by many other packages. You can also reduce your javascript bundle size by calling the package only in the required components (see example below).

npm install vue-click-outside

Usage :

<template>
  <div>
    <div v-click-outside="hide" @click="toggle">Toggle</div>
    <div v-show="opened">Popup item</div>
  </div>
</template>

<script>
import ClickOutside from 'vue-click-outside'

export default {
  data () {
    return {
      opened: false
    }
  },

  methods: {
    toggle () {
      this.opened = true
    },

    hide () {
      this.opened = false
    }
  },

  mounted () {
    // prevent click outside event with popupItem.
    this.popupItem = this.$el
  },

  // do not forget this section
  directives: {
    ClickOutside
  }
}
</script>

Don't reinvent the wheel, use this package v-click-outside

You can create new component which handle outside click

Vue.component('click-outside', {
  created: function () {
    document.body.addEventListener('click', (e) => {
       if (!this.$el.contains(e.target)) {
            this.$emit('clickOutside');
           
        })
  },
  template: `
    <template>
        <div>
            <slot/>
        </div>
    </template>
`
})

And use this component:

<template>
    <click-outside @clickOutside="console.log('Click outside Worked!')">
      <div> Your code...</div>
    </click-outside>
</template>

I'm not sure if someone will ever see this answer but here it is. The idea here is to simply detect if any click was done outside the element itself.

I first start by giving an id to the main div of my "dropdown".

<template>
  <div class="relative" id="dropdown">
    <div @click="openDropdown = !openDropdown" class="cursor-pointer">
      <slot name="trigger" />
    </div>

    <div
      class="absolute mt-2 w-48 origin-top-right right-0 text-red  bg-tertiary text-sm text-black"
      v-show="openDropdown"
      @click="openDropdown = false"
    >
      <slot name="content" />
    </div>
  </div>
</template>

And then I just loop thru the path of the mouse event and see if the div with my id "dropdown" is there. If it is, then we good, if it is no, then we close the dropdown.

<script>
export default {
  data() {
    return {
      openDropdown: false,
    };
  },
  created() {
    document.addEventListener("click", (e) => {
      let me = false;
      for (let index = 0; index < e.path.length; index++) {
        const element = e.path[index];

        if (element.id == "dropdown") {
          me = true;
          return;
        }
      }

      if (!me) this.openDropdown = false;
    });
  }
};
</script>

I'm pretty sure this can bring performance issues if you have many nested elements, but I found this as the most lazy-friendly way of doing it.