Obsolete
This feature is obsolete. Although it may still work in some browsers, its use is discouraged since it could be removed at any time. Try to avoid using it.
The obsolete HTML Directory element (<dir>) is used as a container for a directory of files and/or folders, potentially with styles and icons applied by the user agent. Do not use this obsolete element; instead, you should use the <ul> element for lists, including lists of files.
Usage note: Do not use this element. Though present in early HTML specifications, it has been deprecated in HTML 4, and has since been removed entirely. No major browsers support this element.
DOM interface
This element implements the HTMLDirectoryElement interface.
Attributes
Like all other HTML elements, this element supports the global attributes.
compact- This Boolean attribute hints that the list should be rendered in a compact style. The interpretation of this attribute depends on the user agent and it doesn't work in all browsers.
Usage note: Do not use this attribute, as it has been deprecated: the
<dir>element should be styled using CSS. To give a similar effect as that achieved with thecompactattribute, the CSS propertyline-heightcan be used with a value of80%.
Browser compatibility
The compatibility table in this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.
Update compatibility data on GitHub
| Desktop | Mobile | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome | Edge | Firefox | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari | Android webview | Chrome for Android | Edge Mobile | Firefox for Android | Opera for Android | iOS Safari | Samsung Internet | |
| Basic support | Chrome No support No | Edge No support No | Firefox No support No | IE No support No | Opera No support No | Safari No support No | WebView Android No support No | Chrome Android No support No | Edge Mobile No support No | Firefox Android No support No | Opera Android No support No | Safari iOS No support No | Samsung Internet Android No support No |
compact | Chrome No support No | Edge No support No | Firefox No support No | IE No support No | Opera No support No | Safari No support No | WebView Android No support No | Chrome Android No support No | Edge Mobile No support No | Firefox Android No support No | Opera Android No support No | Safari iOS No support No | Samsung Internet Android No support No |
Legend
- No support
- No support
- Deprecated. Not for use in new websites.
- Deprecated. Not for use in new websites.
See also
- Other list-related HTML Elements:
<ol>,<ul>,<li>, and<menu>; - CSS properties that may be specially useful to style the
<dir>element:- The
list-styleproperty, useful to choose the way the ordinal is displayed. - CSS counters, useful to handle complex nested lists.
- The
line-heightproperty, useful to simulate the deprecatedcompactattribute. - The
marginproperty, useful to control the indent of the list.
- The