Document: adoptNode() method

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2015.

Document.adoptNode() transfers a node from another document into the method's document. The adopted node and its subtree are removed from their original document (if any), and their ownerDocument is changed to the current document. The node can then be inserted into the current document.

Syntax

js
adoptNode(externalNode)

Parameters

externalNode

The node from another document to be adopted.

Return value

The copied importedNode in the scope of the importing document.

After calling this method, importedNode and externalNode are the same object.

Note: importedNode's Node.parentNode is null, since it has not yet been inserted into the document tree!

Examples

js
const iframe = document.querySelector("iframe");
const iframeImages = iframe.contentDocument.querySelectorAll("img");
const newParent = document.getElementById("images");

iframeImages.forEach((imgEl) => {
  newParent.appendChild(document.adoptNode(imgEl));
});

Notes

Before they can be inserted into the current document, nodes from external documents should either be:

For more on the Node.ownerDocument issues, see the W3C DOM FAQ.

Specifications

Specification
DOM
# ref-for-dom-document-adoptnode①

Browser compatibility

Report problems with this compatibility data on GitHub
desktopmobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
adoptNode

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support

See also