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document.documentElement

Document.documentElement returns the Element that is the root element of the document (for example, the <html> element for HTML documents).

Syntax

var element = document.documentElement;

Example

var rootElement = document.documentElement;
var firstTier = rootElement.childNodes;

// firstTier is the NodeList of the direct children of the root element
for (var i = 0; i < firstTier.length; i++) {
   // do something with each direct kid of the root element
   // as firstTier[i]
}

Notes

For any non-empty HTML document, document.documentElement will always be an <html> element. For any non-empty XML document, document.documentElement will always be whatever element is the root element of the document.

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Core Specification The definition of 'Document.documentElement' in that specification.	Obsolete
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification The definition of 'Document.documentElement' in that specification.	Obsolete
DOM4 The definition of 'Document.documentElement' in that specification.	Obsolete
DOM The definition of 'Document.documentElement' in that specification.	Living Standard

Browser compatibilityUpdate compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari
Basic support	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	?

	Mobile
	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Edge Mobile	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	iOS Safari	Samsung Internet
Basic support	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	?

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https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/document/documentElement