Web/API/ParentNode

The ParentNode mixin contains methods and properties that are common to all types of Node objects that can have children. It's implemented by Element, Document, and DocumentFragment objects.

See Locating DOM elements using selectors to learn how to use CSS selectors to find nodes or elements of interest.

Properties

ParentNode.childElementCount Read only: Returns the number of children of this ParentNode which are elements.
ParentNode.children Read only: Returns a live HTMLCollection containing all of the Element objects that are children of this ParentNode, omitting all of its non-element nodes.
ParentNode.firstElementChild Read only: Returns the first node which is both a child of this ParentNode and is also an Element, or null if there is none.
ParentNode.lastElementChild Read only: Returns the last node which is both a child of this ParentNode and is an Element, or null if there is none.

Methods

ParentNode.append() ': Inserts a set of Node objects or DOMString objects after the last child of the ParentNode. DOMString objects are inserted as equivalent Text nodes.
ParentNode.prepend() ': Inserts a set of Node objects or DOMString objects before the first child of the ParentNode. DOMString objects are inserted as equivalent Text nodes.
ParentNode.querySelector(): Returns the first Element with the current element as root that matches the specified group of selectors.
ParentNode.querySelectorAll(): Returns a NodeList representing a list of elements with the current element as root that matches the specified group of selectors.
ParentNode.replaceChildren(): Replaces the existing children of a node with a specified new set of children.

Specification

Specification	Status	Comment
DOMThe definition of 'ParentNode' in that specification.	Living Standard	Split the `ElementTraversal` interface into `ChildNode` and `ParentNode`. The `ParentNode.firstElementChild`, `ParentNode.lastElementChild`, and `ParentNode.childElementCount` properties are now defined on the latter. Added the `ParentNode.children` property, and the `ParentNode.querySelector()`, `ParentNode.querySelectorAll()`, `ParentNode.append()`, and `ParentNode.prepend()` methods.
Element Traversal SpecificationThe definition of 'ElementTraversal' in that specification.	Obsolete	Added the initial definition of its properties to the `ElementTraversal` pure interface and used it on `Element`.

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
`ParentNode`	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 3.5	IE Full support 9	Opera Full support 10	Safari Full support 4	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes
`append` Experimental'	Chrome Full support 54	Edge Full support 17	Firefox Full support 49	IE No support No	Opera Full support 39	Safari Full support 10	WebView Android Full support 54	Chrome Android Full support 54	Firefox Android Full support 49	Opera Android Full support 41	Safari iOS Full support 10	Samsung Internet Android Full support 6.0
`childElementCount`	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 3.5	IE Full support 9	Opera Full support 10	Safari Full support 4	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes
`children`	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 3.5	IE Full support 9 Notes' Full support 9 Notes' Notes' Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8 supported it, but erroneously includes `Comment` nodes.	Opera Full support 10	Safari Full support 4	WebView Android Full support 1	Chrome Android Full support 18	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support 10.1	Safari iOS Full support 9	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
Support on `Document` and `DocumentFragment` Experimental'	Chrome Full support 29	Edge Full support ≤79	Firefox Full support 25	IE No support No	Opera Full support 16	Safari No support No	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android ?	Opera Android ?	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes
`firstElementChild`	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 3.5	IE Full support 9	Opera Full support 10	Safari Full support 4	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes
`lastElementChild`	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 3.5	IE Full support 9	Opera Full support 10	Safari Full support 4	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes
`prepend` Experimental'	Chrome Full support 54	Edge Full support 17	Firefox Full support 49	IE No support No	Opera Full support 39	Safari Full support 10	WebView Android Full support 54	Chrome Android Full support 54	Firefox Android Full support 49	Opera Android Full support 41	Safari iOS Full support 10	Samsung Internet Android Full support 6.0
`querySelector`	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 3.5	IE Full support 9 Notes' Full support 9 Notes' Notes' Internet Explorer 8 only supported CSS2 selectors.	Opera Full support 10	Safari Full support 4	WebView Android Full support ≤37	Chrome Android Full support 18	Firefox Android Full support Yes	Opera Android Full support 10.1	Safari iOS Full support 3.2	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
`querySelectorAll`	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 3.5	IE Full support 9 Notes' Full support 9 Notes' Notes' Internet Explorer 8 only supported CSS2 selectors.	Opera Full support 10	Safari Full support 4	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support Yes	Opera Android Full support 10.1	Safari iOS Full support 3.2	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes
`replaceChildren` Experimental'	Chrome Full support 86	Edge Full support 86	Firefox Full support 78	IE No support No	Opera Full support 72	Safari No support No	WebView Android Full support 86	Chrome Android Full support 86	Firefox Android No support No	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No

Legend

Full support: Full support
No support: No support
Compatibility unknown: Compatibility unknown
Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.': Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.
See implementation notes.': See implementation notes.