HTML DOM querySelector() Method
Document ObjectExample
Get the first element in the document with class="example":
document.querySelector(".example");
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More "Try it Yourself" examples below.
Definition and Usage
The querySelector() method returns the first element that matches a specified CSS selector(s) in the document.
Note: The querySelector() method only returns the first element that matches the specified selectors. To return all the matches, use the querySelectorAll() method instead.
If the selector matches an ID in document that is used several times (Note that an "id" should be unique within a page and should not used more than once), it returns the first matching element.
For more information about CSS Selectors, visit our CSS Selectors Tutorial and our CSS Selectors Reference.
Browser Support
The numbers in the table specifies the first browser version that fully supports the method.
| Method | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| querySelector() | 4.0 | 8.0 | 3.5 | 3.2 | 10.0 |
Syntax
document.querySelector(CSS selectors)
Parameter Values
| Parameter | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| CSS selectors | String | Required. Specifies one or more CSS selectors to match the element. These are used to select HTML
elements based on their id, classes, types, attributes, values of attributes,
etc. For multiple selectors, separate each selector with a comma. The returned element depends on which element that is first found in the document (See "More Examples"). Tip: For a list of all CSS Selectors, look at our CSS Selectors Reference. |
Technical Details
| DOM Version: | Selectors Level 1 Document Object |
|---|---|
| Return Value: | A NodeList object, representing the first element that matches the specified CSS selector(s). If no matches are found, null is returned. Throws a SYNTAX_ERR exception if the specified selector(s) is invalid. |
More Examples
Example
Get the first <p> element in the document with class="example":
document.querySelector("p.example");
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Example
Change the text of an element with id="demo":
document.querySelector("#demo").innerHTML = "Hello World!";
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Example
Get the first <p> element in the document where the parent is a <div> element.
document.querySelector("div > p");
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Example
Get the first <a> element in the document that has a "target" attribute:
document.querySelector("a[target]");
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Example
This example demonstrates how multiple selectors work.
Assume that you have two elements: a <h2> and a <h3> element.
The following code will add a background color to the first <h2> element in the document:
<h2>A h2 element</h2>
<h3>A h3 element</h3>
document.querySelector("h2,
h3").style.backgroundColor = "red";
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However, if the <h3> element was placed before the <h2> element in the document. The <h3> element is the one that will get the red background color.
<h3>A h3 element</h3>
<h2>A h2 element</h2>
document.querySelector("h2,
h3").style.backgroundColor = "red";
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Related Pages
CSS Tutorial: CSS Selectors
CSS Reference: CSS Selectors Reference
JavaScript Tutorial: JavaScript HTML DOM Node List
JavaScript Reference: element.querySelector()
HTML DOM Reference: document.querySelectorAll()
JavaScript Reference: element.querySelectorAll()
