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HTML DOM getElementsByTagName() Method

Document Object Reference Document Object

Example

Get all elements in the document with the specified tag name:

var x = document.getElementsByTagName("LI");
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More "Try it Yourself" examples below.


Definition and Usage

The getElementsByTagName() method returns a collection of all elements in the document with the specified tag name, as a NodeList object.

The NodeList object represents a collection of nodes. The nodes can be accessed by index numbers. The index starts at 0.

Tip: The parametervalue "*" returns all elements in the document.

Tip: You can use the length property of the NodeList object to determine the number of elements with the specified tag name, then you can loop through all elements and extract the info you want.


Browser Support

The numbers in the table specifies the first browser version that fully supports the method.

Method
getElementsByTagName() 1.0 6.0 3.0 3.0 9.5

Syntax

document.getElementsByTagName(tagname)

Parameter Values

Parameter Type Description
tagname String Required. The tagname of the elements you want to get

Technical Details

DOM Version: Core Level 1 Document Object
Return Value: A NodeList object, representing a collection of elements with the specified tag name. The elements in the returned collection are sorted as they appear in the source code.

Examples

More Examples

Example

Find out how many <li> elements there are in the document (using the length property of the NodeList object):

var x = document.getElementsByTagName("LI").length;
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Example

Change the HTML content of the first <p> element (index 0) in the document:

document.getElementsByTagName("P")[0].innerHTML = "Hello World!";
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Example

Change the background color of all <p> elements in the document:

var x = document.getElementsByTagName("P");
var i;
for (i = 0; i < x.length; i++) {
    x[i].style.backgroundColor = "red";
}
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Example

Using the "*" parameter.

Get all elements in the document:

var x = document.getElementsByTagName("*");
Try it yourself »

Related Pages

JavaScript Reference: element.getElementsByTagName()

JavaScript Tutorial: JavaScript HTML DOM Node List


Document Object Reference Document Object