The form submits and nothing happens

The symptom

You press submit. The page reloads, or nothing visible occurs, and no data reaches your server.

The usual causes

The default wasn't prevented. A form submits and navigates by default. If you're handling it in JavaScript, you need preventDefault() — without it the page reloads and your handler's work is discarded.

Inputs have no name attribute. A form serialises by name. Inputs with only an id submit nothing at all — and this is silent.

The button isn't submitting. A <button> inside a form defaults to type="submit"; one outside doesn't. And type="button" never submits.

Wrong method or wrong route. Form says GET, server expects POST. Or the action points somewhere that doesn't exist and you're seeing a 404 you haven't looked at.

Validation is silently blocking it. Browser validation on a field that's hidden or off-screen refuses to submit and shows a message you can't see.

A JavaScript error earlier on the page stopped the script that attaches your handler from ever running.

Diagnose it in thirty seconds

Open the Network tab and submit. If no request appears, the problem is in the browser — default not prevented, handler not attached, or a JavaScript error. If a request does appear, look at what it sent and what came back; the problem is the payload or the server.

That single check splits the problem in half immediately.

My form submits and nothing happens. Network tab shows: <no request /
a request to X returning Y>

Here's my form markup: <paste>
Here's the handler: <paste>

Check: is preventDefault called? Do all inputs have name attributes?
Is the button type right? Do method and action match the server route?
Are there validation attributes on hidden fields?

Then add an error path so a failed submission tells the user, instead
of appearing to do nothing.

Check the console before anything else. An unrelated JavaScript error earlier in the page is a very common cause and takes one second to rule out.