HTMLCollection item() Method
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HTMLCollection item() Method

HTMLCollection

Example

Get the HTML content of the first <p> element of this document:

function myFunction() {
  var x = document.getElementsByTagName("P").item(0);
  alert(x.innerHTML);
}
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Definition and Usage

The item() method returns the element at the specified index in an HTMLCollection.

The Elements are sorted as they appear in the source code, and the index starts at 0.

A shorthand method can also be used, and will produce the same result:

var x = document.getElementsByTagName("P")[0]; Try it

Browser Support

Method
item() Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Syntax

HTMLCollection.item(index)
OR:
HTMLCollection[index]

Parameter Values

Parameter Type Description
index Number Required. The index of the element you want to return.

Note: The index starts at 0


Return Value

An Element object, representing the element at the specified index.

Returns null if the index number is out of range


More Examples

Example

Change the HTML content of the first <p> element:

document.getElementsByTagName("P").item(0).innerHTML = "Paragraph changed";
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Example

Loop through all elements with class="myclass", and change their background color:

var x = document.getElementsByClassName("myclass");

for (i = 0; i < x.length; i++) {
  x.item(i).style.backgroundColor = "red";
}
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Example

Get the HTML content of the first <p> element inside a <div> element:

var div = document.getElementById("myDIV");
var x = div.getElementsByTagName("P").item(0).innerHTML;
Try it Yourself »

Related Pages

HTMLCollection: length Property

HTML Element: getElementsByClassName() Method

HTML Element: getElementsByTagName() Method


HTMLCollection