Case ce-0181-japanese-ime-enter-breaks-chrome · Scenario scenario-ime-interaction-patterns

Japanese IME composition cancelled when pressing Enter

OS: Windows 11 Device: Desktop or Laptop Any Browser: Chrome 120.0 Keyboard: Japanese (IME) Status: draft
composition ime enter japanese chrome windows

Phenomenon

When composing Japanese text with IME in a contenteditable element, pressing Enter cancels the composition and may commit only partial romaji or incomplete kanji conversion. In some browser and IME combinations, the caret moves to the next line but the last composed character or conversion may be lost.

Reproduction example

  1. Focus the editable area.
  2. Activate Japanese IME.
  3. Type romaji text (e.g., “kanji”) and start kanji conversion.
  4. Press Enter to insert a new line before completing the conversion.

Observed behavior

  • The compositionend event fires with incomplete data.
  • The caret moves to the next line.
  • Partial romaji or incomplete kanji conversion may be lost.
  • The conversion candidate list may disappear without committing the selection.

Expected behavior

  • The IME finalizes the current composition before inserting a line break.
  • The last composed character or conversion remains in the DOM text content.
  • If a candidate list is active, it should be handled appropriately.

Browser Comparison

  • Chrome: May cancel composition when Enter is pressed
  • Edge: Similar to Chrome
  • Firefox: May have different behavior
  • Safari: Not applicable on Windows

Notes and possible direction for workarounds

  • Observe the sequence of beforeinput, compositionend, and input events.
  • Check whether the browser emits a beforeinput event with inputType = 'insertParagraph' before or after compositionend.
  • A possible workaround is to intercept Enter on keydown and prevent the default behavior while waiting for composition to complete.
Before
Hello かんじ
Japanese romaji input in progress (kanji → かんじ)
After Enter (Bug)
Hello かん
Enter key cancels composition, only partial romaji remains
vs
✅ Expected
Hello かんじ
Expected: Line break after composition completes

Browser compatibility matrix

This matrix shows which browser and OS combinations have documented cases for this scenario. The current case is highlighted. Click on a cell to view other cases.

Current case
Confirmed
Draft
No case documented

All variants (detailed table)

Complete list of all cases for this scenario with full environment details.

Case OS Device Browser Keyboard Status
ce-0002-ime-enter-breaks Windows 11 Desktop or Laptop Any Chrome 120.0 Korean (IME) draft
ce-0004-ime-backspace-removes-whole-syllable Windows 11 Desktop or Laptop Any Chrome 120.0 Korean (IME) draft
ce-0022-ime-enter-breaks-firefox Windows 11 Desktop or Laptop Any Firefox 120.0 Korean IME draft
ce-0030-backspace-composition-chrome macOS Ubuntu 22.04 Desktop or Laptop Any Chrome 120.0 Japanese IME draft
ce-0035-backspace-deletes-whole-word macOS Ubuntu 22.04 Desktop or Laptop Any Safari 120.0 US draft
ce-0042-input-events-duplicate Windows 11 Desktop or Laptop Any Edge 120.0 US draft
ce-0058-contenteditable-with-autocomplete macOS Ubuntu 22.04 Desktop or Laptop Any Chrome 120.0 US draft
ce-0070-contenteditable-with-autocapitalize iOS 17.0 iPhone Any Safari 17.0 US draft
ce-0071-contenteditable-with-autocorrect iOS 17.0 iPhone Any Safari 17.0 US draft
ce-0181-japanese-ime-enter-breaks-chrome Windows 11 Desktop or Laptop Any Chrome 120.0 Japanese (IME) draft
ce-0182-chinese-ime-enter-breaks-safari macOS 14.0 Desktop or Laptop Any Safari 17.0 Chinese (IME - Pinyin) draft
ce-0185-japanese-ime-backspace-granularity-chrome Windows 11 Desktop or Laptop Any Chrome 120.0 Japanese (IME) draft
ce-0186-chinese-ime-backspace-granularity-safari macOS 14.0 Desktop or Laptop Any Safari 17.0 Chinese (IME - Pinyin) draft
ce-0195-thai-ime-enter-breaks-chrome Windows 11 Desktop or Laptop Any Chrome 120.0 Thai (IME) draft
ce-0196-vietnamese-ime-enter-breaks-edge Windows 11 Desktop or Laptop Any Edge 120.0 Vietnamese (IME) draft
ce-0199-thai-ime-backspace-granularity-chrome Windows 11 Desktop or Laptop Any Chrome 120.0 Thai (IME) draft
ce-0200-vietnamese-ime-backspace-granularity-edge Windows 11 Desktop or Laptop Any Edge 120.0 Vietnamese (IME) draft
ce-0217-keyboard-handlers-iscomposing-false-ios-safari-korean iOS 17.0+ iPhone or iPad Any Safari 17.0+ Korean (IME) draft
ce-0565-chrome-121-oninput-offset-0 Windows 11 Desktop Any Chrome 121.0.6167.86 US QWERTY confirmed
ce-0579 macOS 15.0 (Sequoia) Desktop Any All Browsers (ProseMirror context) Latest (Nov 2025) Apple Magic Keyboard (US) confirmed
ce-0581 Android 14.0 / 15.0 Smartphone Any Chrome 131.0+ Gboard (Emoji) confirmed

Playground for this case

Use the reported environment as a reference and record what happens in your environment while interacting with the editable area.

Reported environment
OS: Windows 11
Device: Desktop or Laptop Any
Browser: Chrome 120.0
Keyboard: Japanese (IME)
Your environment
Sample HTML:
Event log
Use this log together with the case description when filing or updating an issue.
0 events
Interact with the editable area to see events here.

Comments & Discussion

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