Tutorials References Exercises Videos Menu
Free Website Get Certified Pro


JS Reference

JS by Category JS by Alphabet

JavaScript

JS Array JS Boolean JS Classes JS Date JS Error JS Global JS JSON JS Math JS Number JS Object JS Operators JS RegExp JS Statements JS String JS TypedArray

Window

Window Object Window Console Window History Window Location Window Navigator Window Screen

HTML DOM

HTML Documents HTML Elements HTML Attributes HTML Events HTML Event Objects HTML Collection HTML NodeList HTML DOMTokenList HTML Styles
alignContent alignItems alignSelf animation animationDelay animationDirection animationDuration animationFillMode animationIterationCount animationName animationTimingFunction animationPlayState background backgroundAttachment backgroundColor backgroundImage backgroundPosition backgroundRepeat backgroundClip backgroundOrigin backgroundSize backfaceVisibility border borderBottom borderBottomColor borderBottomLeftRadius borderBottomRightRadius borderBottomStyle borderBottomWidth borderCollapse borderColor borderImage borderImageOutset borderImageRepeat borderImageSlice borderImageSource borderImageWidth borderLeft borderLeftColor borderLeftStyle borderLeftWidth borderRadius borderRight borderRightColor borderRightStyle borderRightWidth borderSpacing borderStyle borderTop borderTopColor borderTopLeftRadius borderTopRightRadius borderTopStyle borderTopWidth borderWidth bottom boxShadow boxSizing captionSide caretColor clear clip color columnCount columnFill columnGap columnRule columnRuleColor columnRuleStyle columnRuleWidth columns columnSpan columnWidth counterIncrement counterReset cssFloat cursor direction display emptyCells filter flex flexBasis flexDirection flexFlow flexGrow flexShrink flexWrap font fontFamily fontSize fontStyle fontVariant fontWeight fontSizeAdjust height isolation justifyContent left letterSpacing lineHeight listStyle listStyleImage listStylePosition listStyleType margin marginBottom marginLeft marginRight marginTop maxHeight maxWidth minHeight minWidth objectFit objectPosition opacity order orphans outline outlineColor outlineOffset outlineStyle outlineWidth overflow overflowX overflowY padding paddingBottom paddingLeft paddingRight paddingTop pageBreakAfter pageBreakBefore pageBreakInside perspective perspectiveOrigin position quotes resize right scrollBehavior tableLayout tabSize textAlign textAlignLast textDecoration textDecorationColor textDecorationLine textDecorationStyle textIndent textOverflow textShadow textTransform top transform transformOrigin transformStyle transition transitionProperty transitionDuration transitionTimingFunction transitionDelay unicodeBidi userSelect verticalAlign visibility width wordBreak wordSpacing wordWrap widows zIndex

Web APIs

API Console API Fetch API Fullscreen API Geolocation API History API MediaQueryList API Storage API Validation API Web

HTML Objects

<a> <abbr> <address> <area> <article> <aside> <audio> <b> <base> <bdo> <blockquote> <body> <br> <button> <canvas> <caption> <cite> <code> <col> <colgroup> <datalist> <dd> <del> <details> <dfn> <dialog> <div> <dl> <dt> <em> <embed> <fieldset> <figcaption> <figure> <footer> <form> <head> <header> <h1> - <h6> <hr> <html> <i> <iframe> <img> <ins> <input> button <input> checkbox <input> color <input> date <input> datetime <input> datetime-local <input> email <input> file <input> hidden <input> image <input> month <input> number <input> password <input> radio <input> range <input> reset <input> search <input> submit <input> text <input> time <input> url <input> week <kbd> <label> <legend> <li> <link> <map> <mark> <menu> <menuitem> <meta> <meter> <nav> <object> <ol> <optgroup> <option> <output> <p> <param> <pre> <progress> <q> <s> <samp> <script> <section> <select> <small> <source> <span> <strong> <style> <sub> <summary> <sup> <table> <tbody> <td> <tfoot> <th> <thead> <tr> <textarea> <time> <title> <track> <u> <ul> <var> <video>

Other References

CSSStyleDeclaration JS Conversion


HTML DOM querySelector() Method

Example

Change the text of the first child element with class="example" in a <div> element:

var x = document.getElementById("myDIV");
x.querySelector(".example").innerHTML = "Hello World!";
Try it Yourself »

More "Try it Yourself" examples below.


Definition and Usage

The querySelector() method returns the first child element that matches a specified CSS selector(s) of an element.

Note: The querySelector() method only returns the first element that matches the specified selectors. To return all the matches, use the querySelectorAll() method instead.

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

element.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 Element Object
Return Value: 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

Change the text of the first <p> element in a <div> element:

var x = document.getElementById("myDIV");
x.querySelector("p").innerHTML = "Hello World!";
Try it Yourself »

Example

Change the text of the first <p> element with class="example" in a <div> element:

var x = document.getElementById("myDIV");
x.querySelector("p.example").innerHTML = "Hello World!";
Try it Yourself »

Example

Change the text of an element with id="demo" in a <div> element:

var x = document.getElementById("myDIV");
x.querySelector("#demo").innerHTML = "Hello World!";
Try it Yourself »

Example

Add a red border to the first <a> element that has a target attribute inside a <div> element:

var x = document.getElementById("myDIV");
x.querySelector("a[target]").style.border = "10px solid red";
Try it Yourself »

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 <div>:

<div id="myDIV">
  <h2>A h2 element</h2>
  <h3>A h3 element</h3>
</div>

var x = document.getElementById("myDIV");
x.querySelector("h2, h3").style.backgroundColor = "red";
Try it Yourself »

However, if the <h3> element was placed before the <h2> element in <div>. The <h3> element is the one that will get the red background color.

<div id="myDIV">
  <h3>A h3 element</h3>
  <h2>A h2 element</h2>
</div>

var x = document.getElementById("myDIV");
x.querySelector("h2, h3").style.backgroundColor = "red";
Try it Yourself »

Related Pages

CSS Tutorial: CSS Selectors

CSS Reference: CSS Selectors Reference

JavaScript Tutorial: JavaScript HTML DOM Node List

JavaScript Reference: document.querySelector()

JavaScript Reference: element.querySelectorAll()

HTML DOM Reference: document.querySelectorAll()