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HTML <html> Tag


Example

A simple HTML5 document:

<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<html>
<head>
<title>Title of the document</title>
</head>

<body>
The content of the document......
</body>

</html>
Try it yourself »

Definition and Usage

The <html> tag tells the browser that this is an HTML document.

The <html> tag represents the root of an HTML document.

The <html> tag is the container for all other HTML elements (except for the <!DOCTYPE> tag).


Browser Support

Element
<html> Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Differences Between HTML 4.01 and HTML5

HTML5 has added a new attribute: manifest.


Differences Between HTML and XHTML

The xmlns attribute is required in XHTML, but is invalid in HTML.

However, the HTML validator at http://w3.org does not complain when the xmlns attribute is missing in an XHTML document. This is because the namespace "xmlns=http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" is default, and will be added to the <html> tag even if you do not include it.


Attributes

= New in HTML5.

Attribute Value Description
manifest URL Specifies the address of the document's cache manifest (for offline browsing)
xmlns http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml Specifies the XML namespace attribute (If you need your content to conform to XHTML)

Global Attributes

The <html> tag also supports the Global Attributes in HTML.


Related Pages

HTML tutorial: HTML Introduction

HTML DOM reference: HTML Object


Default CSS Settings

Most browsers will display the <html> element with the following default values:

html {
    display: block;
}

html:focus {
    outline: none;
}