HTML <button> Element
The HTML <button>
tag is used for creating a button control in an HTML document.
Although this tag is often used in conjunction with the <form>
element, it can also be used as a standalone control.
The basic tag is written like this <button></button>
. Any content between the opening and closing tags appears within the button. Usually this is text such as "Submit" or similar, but it could also be an image.
Example
The following example shows how this element works.
Code
Result
Attributes
The <button>
element accepts the following attributes.
Local Attributes
The following attributes are defined in the <button>
element's specification.
Attribute | Description |
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autofocus | Automatically gives focus to this control when the page loads. This allows the user to start using the control without having to select it first. There must not be more than one element in the document with the autofocus attribute specified.
This is a boolean attribute. If the attribute is present, its value must either be the empty string or a value that is an ASCII case-insensitive match for the attribute's canonical name, with no leading or trailing whitespace (i.e. either Possible values:
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disabled | Disables the control. Therefore, if the user tries to use the control, nothing will happen.
This is a boolean attribute. If the attribute is present, its value must either be the empty string or a value that is an ASCII case-insensitive match for the attribute's canonical name, with no leading or trailing whitespace (i.e. either Possible values:
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form | Specifies the ID of a form to which this control belongs.
Possible values: [The ID of a form element in the element's owner |
formaction | Specifies the URL of the file that will process the control when submitted. |
formenctype | Specifies the content type used to encode the form data set when it's submitted to the server.
Possible values:
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formmethod | Specifies the HTTP method to use when the control is submitted.
Possible values:
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formnovalidate | Specifies that the form is not to be validated during submission.
This is a boolean attribute. If the attribute is present, its value must either be the empty string or a value that is an ASCII case-insensitive match for the attribute's canonical name, with no leading or trailing whitespace (i.e. either Possible values:
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formtarget | Specifies the browsing context to load the destination indicated in the action attribute.
Possible values:
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menu | If the type attribute has a value of menu , the menu attribute must be provided in order to specify the element's menu. The value must be the ID of a <menu> element in the same home subtree whose type attribute is in the popup menu state.
The |
name | Assigns the name of the control. |
type | Specifies the type of button.
Possible values:
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value | Assigns an initial value to the control. A button (and its value) is only included in the form submission if the button itself was used to initiate the form submission. |
Global Attributes
The <button>
element accepts the following global attributes. These attributes are standard across all HTML 5 elements.
Attribute | Description | ||||||||||||
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accesskey | Specifies a shortcut key that can be used to access this <button> element.
Possible values. [Any string of characters. This string of characters specifies the key/s the user needs to use in order to access the element.] |
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class | This is a document wide identifier. It is used to refer to a class that is specified in the style sheet. The value should match the name of the class you wish to use. | ||||||||||||
contenteditable | This attribute specifies whether the user can edit the content or not.
Possible values:
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contextmenu | The contextmenu attribute sets a context menu for an element. The value must be the ID of a menu element in the DOM. |
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dir | Specifies the direction of the text.
Possible values:
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draggable | Specifies whether the user is allowed to drag this <button> element or not.
Possible values:
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dropzone | The dropzone attribute specifies what should happen when the user "drops" an element (i.e. after dragging it) onto this <button> element.
Must be an unordered set of unique space-separated tokens that are ASCII case-insensitive. Possible values:
Note that this attribute must not have more than one of the three feedback values (copy, move, and link) specified. If none are specified, the copy value is implied. |
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hidden | Indicates that this particular This is a boolean attribute. If the attribute is present, its value must either be the empty string or a value that is an ASCII case-insensitive match for the attribute's canonical name, with no leading or trailing whitespace (i.e. either Possible values:
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id | The id attribute is a document wide identifier, which is used in conjunction with CSS and JavaScript. The value must match the name of the id you wish to use.
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itemid | The itemid provides a global identifier for an "item". This attribute is optional, however if it is provided, it must have a value that is a valid URL potentially surrounded by spaces.
The |
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itemprop | This attribute provides one or more properties to one or more "items".
Although this attribute is optional, if used it must have a value that is an unordered set of unique space-separated tokens that are case-sensitive, representing the names of the name-value pairs that it adds. The attribute's value must have at least one token. Each token must be one of the following:
Also, |
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itemref | This attribute is used in conjunction with the |
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itemscope | HTML5 elements that have the itemscope attribute create a name-value pair called an "item". Elements with an itemscope attribute may also have an itemtype attribute specified, to give the item types of the item.
This is a boolean attribute. If the attribute is present, its value must either be the empty string or a value that is an ASCII case-insensitive match for the attribute's canonical name, with no leading or trailing whitespace (i.e. either Possible values:
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itemtype | This attribute provides an item type for elements containing the itemscope attribute. The attribute is optional but if it is specified, it must have a value that is an unordered set of unique space-separated tokens that are case-sensitive, each of which is a valid URL that is an absolute URL, and all of which are defined to use the same vocabulary. The attribute's value must have at least one token.
The |
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lang | Sets the language code to be used.
Possible values: [Must be a valid RFC 3066 language code, or an empty string.] |
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spellcheck | Specifies whether the element should have its spelling checked.
If this attribute is missing, the element will use the default behavior, possibly based on the parent's own |
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style | Specifies inline styles for this <button> element. This allows you to define the styles within the page, and within this <button> tag, as opposed to referring to styles defined elsewhere (such as an external style sheet). Although this can be useful for over-riding external styles, it is usually preferrable to use external styles in conjunction with the class attribute and/or the id attribute.
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tabindex | Helps determine the tabbing order for the element (for when the user uses the "tab" key on their keyboard to "tab" through the elements on the page in order to select an element).
Possible values: [Any valid integer. For example, 0, 1, 2, 3, ...etc] |
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title | Specifies a title to associate with this particular <button> element. Many browsers will display this when the cursor hovers over the element (similar to a "tool tip").
Possible values: [Any text to be displayed as a "tool tip".] |
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translate | Determines whether the element's attribute values and the values of its Text node children are to be translated when the page is localized, or whether to leave them unchanged.
The
If the |
Event Handlers
This element also accepts various event handlers. Event handlers are commonly used to extend the functionality of an HTML element.
For a list of event handlers that you can use with this element, see Event handlers on elements, Document objects, and Window objects at the W3C website.
More Information About the <button>
Element
Content Categories |
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Can be used | Where phrasing content is expected. |
Content model | Phrasing content, but there must be no interactive content descendant. |
End Tag Required? | Yes. Any time you use the <button> element, it must have both a start tag and an end tag.
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DOM Interface | HTMLButtonElement |
Specifications for the <button>
Element
Here is the <button>
element defined in the various specifications:
- W3C (HTML5)
- WHATWG (HTML Living Standard)
- W3C HTML 4.01 Specification (previous version of HTML)