The Document interface represents any web page loaded in the browser and serves as an entry point into the web page's content, which is the DOM tree. The DOM tree includes elements such as <body> and <table>, among many others. It provides functionality which is global to the document, such as obtaining the page's URL and creating new elements in the document.

The Document interface describes the common properties and methods for any kind of document. Depending on the document's type (e.g. HTML, XML, SVG, …), a larger API is available: HTML documents, served with the text/html content type, also implement the HTMLDocument interface, wherease SVG documents implement the SVGDocument interface.

Properties

This interface also inherits from the Node and EventTarget interfaces.

Document.all
Provides access to all elements with an id. This is a legacy, non-standard, interface and you should use the document.getElementById() method instead.
Document.async
Used with Document.load to indicate an asynchronous request.
Document.characterSet Read only
Returns the character set being used by the document.
Document.charset Read only
Alias of Document.characterSet. Use this property instead.
Document.compatMode Read only
Indicates whether the document is rendered in quirks or strict mode.
Document.contentType Read only
Returns the Content-Type from the MIME Header of the current document.
Document.doctype Read only
Returns the Document Type Definition (DTD) of the current document.
Document.documentElement Read only
Returns the Element that is a direct child of the document. For HTML documents, this is normally the HTML element.
Document.documentURI Read only
Returns the document location as a string.
Document.domConfig
Should return a DOMConfiguration object.
Document.hidden Read only
…
Document.implementation Read only
Returns the DOM implementation associated with the current document.
Document.inputEncoding Read only
Alias of Document.characterSet. Use this property instead.
Document.lastStyleSheetSet Read only
Returns the name of the style sheet set that was last enabled. Has the value null until the style sheet is changed by setting the value of selectedStyleSheetSet.
Document.mozSyntheticDocument
Returns a Boolean that is true only if this document is synthetic, such as a standalone image, video, audio file, or the like.
Document.mozFullScreen
true when the document is in full-screen mode.
Document.mozFullScreenElement Read only  
The element that's currently in full screen mode for this document.
Document.mozFullScreenEnabled Read only
true if calling Element.mozRequestFullscreen() would succeed in the curent document.
Document.pointerLockElement Read only
Returns the element set as the target for mouse events while the pointer is locked. null if lock is pending, pointer is unlocked, or if the target is in another document.
Document.preferredStyleSheetSet Read only
Returns the preferred style sheet set as specified by the page author.
Document.scrollingElement Read only
Returns a reference to the Element that scrolls the document.
Document.selectedStyleSheetSet
Returns which style sheet set is currently in use.
Document.styleSheets Read only
Returns a list of the style sheet objects on the current document.
Document.styleSheetSets Read only
Returns a list of the style sheet sets available on the document.
Document.timeline Read only
…
Document.undoManager Read only
…
Document.URL Read only
Returns ...
Document.visibilityState Read only
…
Document.xmlEncoding
Returns the encoding as determined by the XML declaration.
Document.xmlStandalone Obsolete since Gecko 10.0
Returns true if the XML declaration specifies the document to be standalone (e.g., An external part of the DTD affects the document's content), else false.
Document.xmlVersion Obsolete since Gecko 10.0
Returns the version number as specified in the XML declaration or "1.0" if the declaration is absent.

The Document interface is extended with the ParentNode interface:

ParentNode.children Read only
Returns a live HTMLCollection containing all objects of type Element that are children of this ParentNode.
ParentNode.firstElementChild Read only
Returns the Element that is the first child of this ParentNode, or null if there is none.
ParentNode.lastElementChild Read only
Returns the Element that is the last child of this ParentNode, or null if there is none.
ParentNode.childElementCount Read only
Returns an unsigned long giving the amount of children that the object has.

Extension for HTML document

The Document interface for HTML documents inherit from the HTMLDocument interface or, since HTML5,  is extended for such documents:

Document.activeElement Read only
Returns the currently focused element.
Document.alinkColor
Returns or sets the color of active links in the document body.
Document.anchors
Returns a list of all of the anchors in the document.
Document.applets
Returns an ordered list of the applets within a document.
Document.bgColor
Gets/sets the background color of the current document.
Document.body
Returns the <body> element of the current document.
Document.cookie
Returns a semicolon-separated list of the cookies for that document or sets a single cookie.
Document.defaultView Read only
Returns a reference to the window object.
Document.designMode
Gets/sets the ability to edit the whole document.
Document.dir Read only
Gets/sets directionality (rtl/ltr) of the document.
Document.domain Read only
Returns the domain of the current document.
Document.embeds Read only
Returns a list of the embedded <embed> elements within the current document.
document.fgColor
Gets/sets the foreground color, or text color, of the current document.
Document.forms Read only
Returns a list of the <form> elements within the current document.
Document.head Read only
Returns the <head> element of the current document.
Document.height
Gets/sets the height of the current document.
Document.images Read only
Returns a list of the images in the current document.
Document.lastModified Read only
Returns the date on which the document was last modified.
Document.linkColor
Gets/sets the color of hyperlinks in the document.
Document.links Read only
Returns a list of all the hyperlinks in the document.
Document.location Read only
Returns the URI of the current document.
Document.plugins Read only
Returns a list of the available plugins.
Document.readyState Read only  
Returns loading status of the document.
Document.referrer Read only
Returns the URI of the page that linked to this page.
Document.scripts Read only
Returns all the <script> elements on the document.
Document.title
Sets or gets title of the current document.
Document.URL Read only
Returns the document location as a string.
Document.vlinkColor
Gets/sets the color of visited hyperlinks.
Document.width
Returns the width of the current document.

Event handlers

GlobalEventHandlers.onabort
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the abort event is raised.
Document.onafterscriptexecute
Represents the event handling code for the afterscriptexecute event.
Document.onbeforescriptexecute
Represents the event handling code for the beforescriptexecute event.
GlobalEventHandlers.onblur
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the blur event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.oncancel
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the cancel event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.oncanplay
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the canplay event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.oncanplaythrough
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the canplaythrough event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onchange
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the change event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onclick
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the click event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onclose
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the close event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.oncontextmenu
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the contextmenu event is raised.
Document.oncopy
Represents the event handling code for the copy event.
GlobalEventHandlers.oncuechange
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the cuechange event is raised.
Document.oncut
Represents the event handling code for the cut event.
GlobalEventHandlers.ondblclick
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the dblclick event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.ondrag
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the drag event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.ondragend
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the dragend event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.ondragenter
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the dragenter event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.ondragexit
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the dragexit event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.ondragleave
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the dragleave event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.ondragover
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the dragover event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.ondragstart
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the dragstart event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.ondrop
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the drop event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.ondurationchange
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the durationchange event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onemptied
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the emptied event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onended
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the ended event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onerror
Is an OnErrorEventHandler representing the code to be called when the error event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onfocus
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the focus event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.oninput
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the input event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.oninvalid
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the invalid event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onkeydown
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the keydown event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onkeypress
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the keypress event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onkeyup
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the keyup event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onload
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the load event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onloadeddata
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the loadeddata event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onloadedmetadata
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the loadedmetadata event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onloadstart
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the loadstart event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onmousedown
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the mousedown event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onmouseenter
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the mouseenter event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onmouseleave
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the mouseleave event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onmousemove
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the mousemove event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onmouseout
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the mouseout event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onmouseover
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the mouseover event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onmouseup
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the mouseup event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onmousewheel
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the mousewheel event is raised.
GlobalEventHandler.onmozfullscreenchange
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the fullscreenchange event is raised.
GlobalEventHandler.onmozfullscreenerror
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the fullscreenerror event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onpause
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the pause event is raised.
Document.onpaste
Represents the event handling code for the paste event.
GlobalEventHandlers.onplay
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the play event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onplaying
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the playing event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onpointerdown
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the pointerdown event is raised.
Document.onpointerlockchange
Represents the event handling code for the pointerlockchange event.
Document.onpointerlockerror
Represetnts the event handling code for the pointerlockerror event.
GlobalEventHandlers.onpointermove
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the pointermove event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onpointerup
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the pointerup event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onpointercancel
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the pointercancel event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onpointerover
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the pointerover event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onpointerout
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the pointerout event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onpointerenter
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the pointerevent event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onpointerleave
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the pointerleave event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onpointerlockchange
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the pointerlockchange event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onpointerlockerror
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the pointerlockerror event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onprogress
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the progress event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onratechange
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the ratechange event is raised.
Document.onreadystatechange
Represents the event handling code for the readystatechange event.
GlobalEventHandlers.onreset
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the reset event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onscroll
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the scroll event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onseeked
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the seeked event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onseeking
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the seeking event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onselect
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the select event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onselectstart
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the selectstart event is raised.
Document.onselectionchange
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the selectionchange event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onshow
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the show event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onsort
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the sort event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onstalled
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the stalled event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onsubmit
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the submit event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onsuspend
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the suspend event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.ontimeupdate
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the timeupdate event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onvolumechange
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the volumechange event is raised.
GlobalEventHandlers.onwaiting
Is an EventHandler representing the code to be called when the waiting event is raised.
Document.onwheel
Represents the event handling code for the wheel event.

Methods

This interface also inherits from the Node and EventTarget interfaces.

Document.adoptNode()
Adopt node from an external document.
Document.captureEvents()
See Window.captureEvents.
Document.caretPositionFromPoint()
Gets the CaretPosition at or near the specified coordinates.
Document.caretRangeFromPoint()
Gets a Range object for the document fragment under the specified coordinates.
Document.createAttribute()
Creates a new Attr object and returns it.
Document.createAttributeNS()
Creates a new attribute node in a given namespace and returns it.
Document.createCDATASection()
Creates a new CDATA node and returns it.
Document.createComment()
Creates a new comment node and returns it.
Document.createDocumentFragment()
Creates a new document fragment.
Document.createElement()
Creates a new element with the given tag name.
Document.createElementNS()
Creates a new element with the given tag name and namespace URI.
Document.createEntityReference()
Creates a new entity reference object and returns it.
Document.createEvent()
Creates an event object.
Document.createNodeIterator()
Creates a NodeIterator object.
Document.createProcessingInstruction()
Creates a new ProcessingInstruction object.
Document.createRange()
Creates a Range object.
Document.createTextNode()
Creates a text node.
Document.createTouch()
Creates a Touch object.
Document.createTouchList()
Creates a TouchList object.
Document.createTreeWalker()
Creates a TreeWalker object.
Document.elementFromPoint()
Returns the topmost element at the specified coordinates. 
Document.elementsFromPoint()
Returns an array of all elements at the specified coordinates.
Document.enableStyleSheetsForSet()
Enables the style sheets for the specified style sheet set.
Document.exitPointerLock()
Release the pointer lock.
Document.getAnimations()
Returns an array of all Animation objects currently in effect whose target elements are descendants of the document.
Document.getElementsByClassName()
Returns a list of elements with the given class name.
Document.getElementsByTagName()
Returns a list of elements with the given tag name.
Document.getElementsByTagNameNS()
Returns a list of elements with the given tag name and namespace.
Document.importNode()
Returns a clone of a node from an external document.
Document.normalizeDocument()
Replaces entities, normalizes text nodes, etc.
Document.registerElement()
Registers a web component.
Document.releaseCapture()
Releases the current mouse capture if it's on an element in this document.
Document.releaseEvents()
See Window.releaseEvents().
Document.routeEvent() Obsolete since Gecko 24
See Window.routeEvent().
Document.mozSetImageElement()
Allows you to change the element being used as the background image for a specified element ID.

The Document interface is extended with the ParentNode interface:

document.getElementById(String id)
Returns an object reference to the identified element.
document.querySelector(String selector)
Returns the first Element node within the document, in document order, that matches the specified selectors.
document.querySelectorAll(String selector)
Returns a list of all the Element nodes within the document that match the specified selectors.

The Document interface is extended with the XPathEvaluator interface:

document.createExpression(String expression, XPathNSResolver resolver)
Compiles an XPathExpression which can then be used for (repeated) evaluations.
document.createNSResolver(Node resolver)
Creates an XPathNSResolver object.
document.evaluate(String expression, Node contextNode, XPathNSResolver resolver, Number type, Object result)
Evaluates an XPath expression.

Extension for HTML documents

The Document interface for HTML documents inherit from the HTMLDocument interface or, since HTML5,  is extended for such documents:

document.clear()
In majority of modern browsers, including recent versions of Firefox and Internet Explorer, this method does nothing.
document.close()
Closes a document stream for writing.
document.execCommand(String command[, Boolean showUI[, String value]])
On an editable document, executes a formating command.
document.getElementsByName(String name)
Returns a list of elements with the given name.
document.getSelection()
Returns a Selection object related to text selected in the document.
document.hasFocus()
Returns true if the focus is currently located anywhere inside the specified document.
document.open()
Opens a document stream for writing.
document.queryCommandEnabled(String command)
Returns true if the formating command can be executed on the current range.
document.queryCommandIndeterm(String command)
Returns true if the formating command is in an indeterminate state on the current range.
document.queryCommandState(String command)
Returns true if the formating command has been executed on the current range.
document.queryCommandSupported(String command)
Returns true if the formating command is supported on the current range.
document.queryCommandValue(String command)
Returns the current value of the current range for a formating command.
document.write(String text)
Writes text in a document.
document.writeln(String text)
Writes a line of text in a document.

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
Selection API
The definition of 'Extend Document and GlobalEventHandlers' in that specification.		 Working Draft Adds onselectstart and onselectionchange.
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 1 Specification
The definition of 'Document' in that specification.		 Recommendation Initial definition for the interface
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Core Specification
The definition of 'Document' in that specification.		 Recommendation Supersede DOM 1
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification
The definition of 'Document' in that specification.		 Recommendation Supersede DOM 2
DOM
The definition of 'Document' in that specification.		 Living Standard Intend to supersede DOM 3
WHATWG HTML Living Standard
The definition of 'Document' in that specification.		 Living Standard Turn the HTMLDocument interface into a Document extension.
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 XPath Specification
The definition of 'XPathEvaluator' in that specification.		 Recommendation Define the XPathEvaluator interface which extend document.
HTML Editing APIs
The definition of 'Document' in that specification.		 Editor's Draft Extend the Document interface
CSS Object Model (CSSOM) View Module
The definition of 'Document' in that specification.		 Working Draft Extend the Document interface
CSS Object Model (CSSOM)
The definition of 'Document' in that specification.		 Working Draft Extend the Document interface
Pointer Lock
The definition of 'Document' in that specification.		 Candidate Recommendation Extend the Document interface

Browser compatibility notes

Firefox notes

Mozilla defines a set of non-standard properties made only for XUL content:

document.currentScript
Returns the <script> element that is currently executing.
document.documentURIObject
(Mozilla add-ons only!) Returns the nsIURI object representing the URI of the document. This property only has special meaning in privileged JavaScript code (with UniversalXPConnect privileges).
document.popupNode
Returns the node upon which a popup was invoked.
document.tooltipNode
Returns the node which is the target of the current tooltip.

Mozilla also define some non-standard methods:

document.execCommandShowHelp Obsolete since Gecko 14.0
This method never did anything and always threw an exception, so it was removed in Gecko 14.0 (Firefox 14.0 / Thunderbird 14.0 / SeaMonkey 2.11).
document.getBoxObjectFor
Use the Element.getBoundingClientRect() method instead.
document.loadOverlay
Loads a XUL overlay dynamically. This only works in XUL documents.
document.queryCommandText Obsolete since Gecko 14.0
This method never did anything but throw an exception, and was removed in Gecko 14.0 (Firefox 14.0 / Thunderbird 14.0 / SeaMonkey 2.11).

Internet Explorer notes

Microsoft defines some non-standard properties:

document.fileSize*
Returns size in bytes of the document. Starting with Internet Explorer 11, that property is no longer supported. See MSDN.
Internet Explorer does not support all methods from the Node interface in the Document interface:
document.contains
As a work-around, document.body.contains() can be used.

 

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