HTML DOM getElementsByTagName() Method

Example

Change the HTML content of the first <li> element (index 0) in a list:

var list = document.getElementsByTagName("UL")[0];
list.getElementsByTagName("LI")[0].innerHTML = "Milk";

Definition and Usage

The getElementsByTagName() method returns a collection of an elements's child elements 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: You can use the length property of the NodeList object to determine the number of child nodes with the specified tag name, then you can loop through all nodes and extract the info you want.

Tip: The parametervalue "*" returns all of the element's child elements.

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

element.getElementsByTagName(tagname)

Parameter Values

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

Technical Details

DOM Version	Core Level 1 Element Object
Return Value:	A NodeList object, representing a collection of the element's child elements with the specified tagname. The elements in the returned collection are sorted as they appear in the source code.

More Examples

Example

Find out how many <p> elements there are inside a <div> element (using the length property of the NodeList object):

var x = document.getElementById("myDIV").getElementsByTagName("P").length;

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Example

Change the background color of the second <p> element (index 1) inside a <div> element:

var x = document.getElementById("myDIV");
x.getElementsByTagName("P")[1].style.backgroundColor = "red";

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Example

Change the background color of all <p> elements inside a <div> element:

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

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Example

Change the background color of the fourth element (index 3) inside a <div> element:

var x = document.getElementById("myDIV");
x.getElementsByTagName("*")[3].style.backgroundColor = "red";

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Example

Using the "*" parameter.

Change the background color of all elements inside a <div> element:

var x = document.getElementById("myDIV");
var y = x.getElementsByTagName("*");
var i;
for (i = 0; i < y.length; i++) {
y[i].style.backgroundColor = "red";
}

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JavaScript Reference: document.getElementsByTagName()

JavaScript Tutorial: JavaScript HTML DOM Node List

❮ Element Object