The onChange event handler is fired when the text in the area is modified.
<html> <head> <script language="JavaScript"> <!-- function changeBack(){ document.myForm.myTextArea.value = document.myForm.myTextArea.defaultValue; } --> </script> </head> <body> <form name="myForm"> <textarea name="myTextArea" rows=2 cols=50 onChange='changeBack()'> Here is some text in my text area. </textarea> </form> </body> </html>