Web/API/ChildNode/replaceWith

The ChildNode.replaceWith() method replaces this ChildNode in the children list of its parent with a set of Node or DOMString objects. DOMString objects are inserted as equivalent Text nodes.

Syntax

[Throws, Unscopable] 
void ChildNode.replaceWith((Node or DOMString)... nodes);

Parameters

nodes

A set of Node or DOMString objects to replace.

Exceptions

• HierarchyRequestError: Node cannot be inserted at the specified point in the hierarchy.

Examples

Using replaceWith()

var parent = document.createElement("div");
var child = document.createElement("p");
parent.appendChild(child);
var span = document.createElement("span");

child.replaceWith(span);

console.log(parent.outerHTML);
// "<div><span></span></div>"

ChildNode.replaceWith() is unscopable

The replaceWith() method is not scoped into the with statement. See Symbol.unscopables for more information.

with(node) { 
  replaceWith("foo");
}
// ReferenceError: replaceWith is not defined

Polyfill

You can polyfill the replaceWith() method in Internet Explorer 10+ and higher with the following code:

function ReplaceWithPolyfill() {
  'use-strict'; // For safari, and IE > 10
  var parent = this.parentNode, i = arguments.length, currentNode;
  if (!parent) return;
  if (!i) // if there are no arguments
    parent.removeChild(this);
  while (i--) { // i-- decrements i and returns the value of i before the decrement
    currentNode = arguments[i];
    if (typeof currentNode !== 'object'){
      currentNode = this.ownerDocument.createTextNode(currentNode);
    } else if (currentNode.parentNode){
      currentNode.parentNode.removeChild(currentNode);
    }
    // the value of "i" below is after the decrement
    if (!i) // if currentNode is the first argument (currentNode === arguments[0])
      parent.replaceChild(currentNode, this);
    else // if currentNode isn't the first
      parent.insertBefore(currentNode, this.nextSibling);
  }
}
if (!Element.prototype.replaceWith)
    Element.prototype.replaceWith = ReplaceWithPolyfill;
if (!CharacterData.prototype.replaceWith)
    CharacterData.prototype.replaceWith = ReplaceWithPolyfill;
if (!DocumentType.prototype.replaceWith) 
    DocumentType.prototype.replaceWith = ReplaceWithPolyfill;

Specification

Specification	Status	Comment
DOMThe definition of 'ChildNode.replacewith()' in that specification.	Living Standard	Initial definition.

Browser compatibility

The compatibility table on this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
replaceWith	Chrome Full support 54	Edge Full support 17	Firefox Full support 49	IE No support No	Opera Full support 39	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support 54	Chrome Android Full support 54	Firefox Android Full support 49	Opera Android Full support 41	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support 6.0

Legend

Full support  

Full support

No support  

No support

See also

• ChildNode and ParentNode
• Node.replaceChild()
• NodeList

ChildNode.replaceWith() by Mozilla Contributors is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.5.