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/HTML

<div>

The HTML Content Division element (<div>) is the generic container for flow content. It has no effect on the content or layout until styled using CSS.

As a "pure" container, the <div> element does not inherently represent anything. Instead, it's used to group content so it can be easily styled using the class or id attributes, marking a section of a document as being written in a different language (using the lang attribute), and so on.

Content categories	Flow content, palpable content.
Permitted content	Flow content. Or (in WHATWG HTML): If the parent is a `<dl>` element: one or more `<dt>` elements followed by one or more `<dd>` elements, optionally intermixed with `<script>` and `<template>` elements.
Tag omission	None, both the starting and ending tag are mandatory.
Permitted parents	Any element that accepts flow content. Or (in WHATWG HTML): `<dl>` element.
Permitted ARIA roles	Any
DOM interface	`HTMLDivElement`

Attributes

This element includes the global attributes.

The align attribute is obsolete; do not use it anymore. Instead, you should use CSS properties or techniques such as CSS Grid or CSS Flexbox to align and position <div> elements on the page.

Usage notes

The <div> element should be used only when no other semantic element (such as <article> or <nav>) is appropriate.

Examples

A simple example

<div>
  <p>Any kind of content here. Such as
  &lt;p&gt;, &lt;table&gt;. You name it!</p>
</div>

The result looks like this:

A styled example

This example creates a shadowed box by applying a style to the <div> using CSS. Note the use of the class attribute on the <div> to apply the style named "shadowbox" to the element.

HTML

<div class="shadowbox">
  <p>Here's a very interesting note displayed in a
  lovely shadowed box.</p>
</div>

CSS

.shadowbox {
  width: 15em;
  border: 1px solid #333;
  box-shadow: 8px 8px 5px #444;
  padding: 8px 12px;
  background-image: linear-gradient(180deg, #fff, #ddd 40%, #ccc);
}

Result

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
HTML Living Standard The definition of '<div>' in that specification.	Living Standard	No changes since the latest snapshot
HTML5 The definition of '<div>' in that specification.	Recommendation	Obsoleted align
HTML 4.01 Specification The definition of '<div>' in that specification.	Recommendation

Browser compatibilityUpdate compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari
Basic support	Yes	Yes	1	Yes	Yes	Yes
`align`	Yes	Yes	1	Yes	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	4	Yes	Yes	Yes
`align`	Yes	Yes	Yes	4	Yes	Yes	Yes