Web/HTML/Element/dir

ObsoleteThis feature is obsolete. Although it may still work in some browsers, its use is discouraged since it could be removed at any time. Try to avoid using it.

The obsolete HTML Directory element (<dir>) is used as a container for a directory of files and/or folders, potentially with styles and icons applied by the user agent. Do not use this obsolete element; instead, you should use the <ul> element for lists, including lists of files.

Usage note: Do not use this element. Though present in early HTML specifications, it has been deprecated in HTML 4, and has since been removed entirely. No major browsers support this element.

DOM interface

This element implements the HTMLDirectoryElement interface.

Attributes

Like all other HTML elements, this element supports the global attributes.

compact

This Boolean attribute hints that the list should be rendered in a compact style. The interpretation of this attribute depends on the user agent and it doesn't work in all browsers.

Usage note: Do not use this attribute, as it has been deprecated: the <dir> element should be styled using CSS. To give a similar effect as that achieved with the compact attribute, the CSS property line-height can be used with a value of 80%.

Browser compatibility

The compatibility table in 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
dir Deprecated'	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox No support No	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android No support No	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
compact Deprecated'	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox No support No	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android No support No	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No

Legend

No support  

No support

Deprecated. Not for use in new websites.'

Deprecated. Not for use in new websites.

See also

• Other list-related HTML Elements: <ol>, <ul>, <li>, and <menu>;
• CSS properties that may be specially useful to style the <dir> element:
  • The list-style property, useful to choose the way the ordinal is displayed.
  • CSS counters, useful to handle complex nested lists.
  • The line-height property, useful to simulate the deprecated compact attribute.
  • The margin property, useful to control the indent of the list.

<dir>: The Directory element (obsolete) by Mozilla Contributors is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.5.