W3cubDocs

<span>

The <span> is a generic inline container for phrasing content, which does not inherently represent anything. It can be used to group elements for styling purposes (using the class or id attributes), or because they share attribute values, such as lang. It should be used only when no other semantic element is appropriate. <span> is very much like a <div> element, but <div> is a block-level element whereas a <span> is an inline element.

Content categories	Flow content, phrasing content.
Permitted content	Phrasing content
Tag omission	None, both the starting and ending tag are mandatory.
Permitted parents	Any element that accepts phrasing content, or any element that accepts flow content.
Permitted ARIA roles	Any
DOM interface	`HTMLSpanElement` (before HTML 5, the interface was `HTMLElement`)

Attributes

This element only includes the global attributes.

Example 1

<p><span>Some text</span></p>

Result

Some text

Example 2

<li><span>
    <a href="portfolio.html" target="_blank">See my portfolio</a>
</span></li>

CSS:

li span {
background: gold;
}

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
HTML Living Standard The definition of '<span>' in that specification.	Living Standard
HTML5 The definition of '<span>' in that specification.	Recommendation	The DOM interface is now `HTMLSpanElement`.
HTML 4.01 Specification The definition of '<span>' 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

	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