Web/HTML/Element/html

The HTML <html> element represents the root (top-level element) of an HTML document, so it is also referred to as the root element. All other elements must be descendants of this element.

Content categories	None.
Permitted content	One `<head>` element, followed by one `<body>` element.
Tag omission	The start tag may be omitted if the first thing inside the `<html>` element is not a comment. The end tag may be omitted if the `<html>` element is not immediately followed by a comment.
Permitted parents	None. This is the root element of a document.
Implicit ARIA role	No corresponding role
Permitted ARIA roles	No `role` permitted
DOM interface	`HTMLHtmlElement`

Attributes

This element includes the global attributes.

manifest ': Specifies the URI of a resource manifest indicating resources that should be cached locally. See Using the application cache for details.
version ': Specifies the version of the HTML Document Type Definition that governs the current document. This attribute is not needed, because it is redundant with the version information in the document type declaration.
xmlns: Specifies the XML Namespace of the document. Default value is "http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml%22. This is required in documents parsed with XML parsers, and optional in text/html documents.

Example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>...</head>
  <body>...</body>
</html>

Accessibility concerns

Providing a lang attribute with a valid IETF identifying language tag on the <html> element will help screen reading technology determine the proper language to announce. The identifying language tag should describe the language used by the majority of the content of the page. Without it, screen readers will typically default to the operating system's set language, which may cause mispronunciations.

Including a valid lang declaration on the <html> element also ensures that important metadata contained in the page's <head>, such as the page's <title>, are also announced properly.

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
HTML Living StandardThe definition of '<html>' in that specification.	Living Standard
HTML5The definition of '<html>' in that specification.	Recommendation	Added support for the `manifest` attribute (deprecated later). Obsoleted the `version` attribute
HTML 4.01 SpecificationThe definition of '<html>' in that specification.	Recommendation	Deprecated the `version` attribute

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
`html`	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support Yes	IE Full support Yes	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support Yes	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes
`manifest` Deprecated'	Chrome Full support 4	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 3.5 Full support 3.5 Partial support 3 Notes' Notes' Versions of Firefox prior to 3.5 ignore the `NETWORK` and `FALLBACK` sections of the cache manifest file.	IE Full support 10	Opera Full support 10.6	Safari Full support 4	WebView Android Full support 4	Chrome Android Full support 18	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support 11	Safari iOS Full support 3.2	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
`version` Deprecated'	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support Yes	IE Full support Yes	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support Yes	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes
`xmlns`	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support Yes	IE Full support Yes	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support Yes	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes

Legend

Full support: Full support
Deprecated. Not for use in new websites.': Deprecated. Not for use in new websites.
See implementation notes.': See implementation notes.