Ask HN: Why can't I copy and paste into HTML fields?

1 points by danmccorm 10y ago ↗ HN

I've noticed a trend to prevent copying and pasting into HTML fields which I find quite irrational. Doesn't accuracy increase if I'm allowed to copy and paste something? Presently, I'm prevented from copying a checking account number into a field, so I have to type it out by hand, which is much more error-prone. Does anyone know why sites do this?

1 comment

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lsiunsuex 10y ago ↗

1 reason I can think of is when copying and pasting - the text formatting used from where you copied the string from can come over with the text. So your not pasting in just a number but potentially html / css with it.

For obvious reasons, this could be a problem and instead of stripping the html / css / garbage - it's easier to just prevent the action entirely.