Document.documentElement

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  1. Syntax
  2. Example
  3. Notes
  4. Specifications

Document.documentElement returns the Element that is the root element of the document (for example, the <html> element for HTML documents).

Syntax

var element = document.documentElement;

Example

var rootElement = document.documentElement;
var firstTier = rootElement.childNodes;

// firstTier is the NodeList of the direct children of the root element
for (var i = 0; i < firstTier.length; i++) {
   // do something with each direct kid of the root element
   // as firstTier[i]
}

Notes

For any non-empty HTML document, document.documentElement will always be an <html> element. For any non-empty XML document, document.documentElement will always be whatever element is the root element of the document.

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Core Specification
The definition of 'Document.documentElement' in that specification.		 Obsolete
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification
The definition of 'Document.documentElement' in that specification.		 Obsolete
DOM4
The definition of 'Document.documentElement' in that specification.		 Obsolete
DOM
The definition of 'Document.documentElement' in that specification.		 Living Standard

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 Last updated by: u_7cc,