Web/API/Element/insertAdjacentText

The insertAdjacentText() method of the Element interface inserts a given text node at a given position relative to the element it is invoked upon.

Syntax

element.insertAdjacentText(position, element);

Parameters

position: A DOMString representing the position relative to the element; must be one of the following strings:

'beforebegin'

Before the element itself.
'afterbegin': Just inside the element, before its first child.
'beforeend': Just inside the element, after its last child.
'afterend': After the element itself.

element: A DOMString representing the text to be inserted into the tree.

Return value

Void.

Exceptions

Exception	Explanation
`SyntaxError`	The `position` specified is not a recognised value.

Visualization of position names

<!-- beforebegin -->
<p>
  <!-- afterbegin -->
  foo
  <!-- beforeend -->
</p>
<!-- afterend -->

Note: The beforebegin and afterend positions work only if the node is in a tree and has an element parent.

Example

beforeBtn.addEventListener('click', function() {
  para.insertAdjacentText('afterbegin',textInput.value);
});

afterBtn.addEventListener('click', function() {
  para.insertAdjacentText('beforeend',textInput.value);
});

Have a look at our [[../../../../../../../mdn.github.io/dom-examples/insert-adjacent/insertAdjacentText|insertAdjacentText.html]] demo on GitHub (see the source code too.) Here we have a simple paragraph. You can enter some text into the form element, then press the Insert before and Insert after buttons to insert it before or after the existing paragraph text using insertAdjacentText(). Note that the existing text node is not added to — further text nodes are created containing the new additions.

Polyfill

You can polyfill the insertAdjacentText() method in Internet Explorer 5.5 (maybe earlier) and higher with the following code:

if (!Element.prototype.insertAdjacentText)
  Element.prototype.insertAdjacentText = function(type, txt){
    this.insertAdjacentHTML(
      type,
      (txt+'') // convert to string
        .replace(/&/g, '&amp;') // embed ampersand symbols
        .replace(/</g, '&lt;') // embed less-than symbols
    )
  }

Specification

Specification	Status	Comment
DOMThe definition of 'insertAdjacentText()' in that specification.	Living Standard

Browser compatibility

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
`insertAdjacentText`	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 17 Full support 17 No support 12 — 17 Notes' Notes' This function is implemented in the `HTMLElement` API, meaning non-HTML elements (like SVG elements) cannot use this function.	Firefox Full support 48	IE Full support Yes Notes' Full support Yes Notes' Notes' This function is implemented in the `HTMLElement` API, meaning non-HTML elements (like SVG elements) cannot use this function.	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support 4	WebView Android Full support 2.3	Chrome Android Full support 18	Firefox Android Full support 48	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support 4	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0

Legend

Full support: Full support
See implementation notes.': See implementation notes.