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HTML DOM getElementById() Method

< Document Object

Example

Get the element with the specified ID:

document.getElementById("demo");
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More "Try it Yourself" examples below.


Definition and Usage

The getElementById() method returns the element that has the ID attribute with the specified value.

This method is one of the most common methods in the HTML DOM, and is used almost every time you want to manipulate, or get info from, an element on your document.

Returns null if no elements with the specified ID exists.

An ID should be unique within a page. However, if more than one element with the specified ID exists, the getElementById() method returns the first element in the source code.


Browser Support

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

Method
getElementById() Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Syntax

document.getElementById(elementID)

Parameter Values

Parameter Type Description
elementID String Required. The ID attribute's value of the element you want to get

Technical Details

DOM Version: Core Level 2 Document Object
Return Value: An Element Object, representing an element with the specified ID. Returns null if no elements with the specified ID exists

Examples

More Examples

Example

Get the element with id="demo" and change its color:

var x = document.getElementById("demo");   // Get the element with id="demo"
x.style.color = "red";                     // Change the color of the element
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Related Pages

CSS Tutorial: CSS Selectors

CSS Reference: CSS #id Selector

HTML DOM Reference: HTML DOM id Property

HTML DOM Reference: HTML DOM Style Object


< Document Object