Web/API/Node/isSameNode

The isSameNode() method for Node objects tests whether two nodes are the same (that is, whether they reference the same object).

Syntax

const isSameNode = node.isSameNode(otherNode)

Parameters

otherNode The Node to test against.

Example

In this example, we create three <div> blocks. The first and third have the same contents and attributes, while the second is different. Then we run some JavaScript to compare the nodes using isSameNode() and output the results.

HTML

<div>This is the first element.</div>
<div>This is the second element.</div>
<div>This is the first element.</div>

<p id="output"></p>

CSS

#output {
  width: 440px;
  border: 2px solid black;
  border-radius: 5px;
  padding: 10px;
  margin-top: 20px;
  display: block;
}

JavaScript

let output = document.getElementById("output");
let divList  = document.getElementsByTagName("div");

output.innerHTML += "div 0 same as div 0: " + divList[0].isSameNode(divList[0]) + "<br/>";
output.innerHTML += "div 0 same as div 1: " + divList[0].isSameNode(divList[1]) + "<br/>";
output.innerHTML += "div 0 same as div 2: " + divList[0].isSameNode(divList[2]) + "<br/>";

Results

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
DOMThe definition of 'Node: isSameNode' in that specification.	Living Standard	No change (was for a long time removed from it).
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Core SpecificationThe definition of 'Node.isSameNode()' in that specification.	Obsolete	Initial definition

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
`isSameNode`	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 48 Full support 48 No support 1 — 10	IE ?	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support 48 Full support 48 No support 4 — 10	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes

Legend

Full support: Full support
Compatibility unknown: Compatibility unknown