document.getElementById("filetoRead").addEventListener("change",function(){ var file = this.files[0]; if (file) { var reader = new FileReader(); reader.onload = function (evt) { console.log(evt); document.getElementById("editor").value = evt.target.result; }; reader.onerror = function (evt) { console.error("An error ocurred reading the file",evt); }; reader.readAsText(file, "UTF-8"); } },false);
<textarea id="editor"></textarea><br> <p> Select a file from your computer to being read as text. </p> <input type="file" id="filetoRead" />