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.

AttributeDescription
autofocusAutomatically 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 autofocus or autofocus="autofocus").

Possible values:

  • [Empty string]
  • autofocus
disabledDisables 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 disabled or disabled="disabled").

Possible values:

  • [Empty string]
  • disabled
formSpecifies the ID of a form to which this control belongs.

Possible values:

[The ID of a form element in the element's owner Document]

formactionSpecifies the URL of the file that will process the control when submitted.
formenctypeSpecifies the content type used to encode the form data set when it's submitted to the server.

Possible values:

  • application/x-www-form-urlencoded (default)
  • multipart/form-data (use this when uploading files)
  • text/plain (use this when uploading files)
formmethodSpecifies the HTTP method to use when the control is submitted.

Possible values:

  • get (the form data is appended to the URL when submitted)
  • post (the form data is not appended to the URL)
  • dialog (Closes the dialog box in which the form finds itself, if any, and otherwise does not submit.)
formnovalidateSpecifies 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 novalidate or novalidate="novalidate").

Possible values:

  • [Empty string]
  • novalidate
formtargetSpecifies the browsing context to load the destination indicated in the action attribute.

Possible values:

  • _blank
  • _self
  • _top
  • _parent
menuIf 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 menu attribute can only be used when the type attribute has a value of menu.

nameAssigns the name of the control.
typeSpecifies the type of button.

Possible values:

  • submit Submits the form. This is the default value.
  • reset Resets the form.
  • button Does nothing. You can use JavaScript to make the control actually do something.
  • menu Displays a menu. When using this value, you must specify the menu using the menu attribute (see above).
valueAssigns 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
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.]

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:

  • true
  • false
contextmenu The contextmenu attribute sets a context menu for an element. The value must be the ID of a menu element in the DOM.
dir Specifies the direction of the text.

Possible values:

ValueDescription
ltrSpecifies that the text should read left to right.
rtlThe text should read right to left.
autoThe text direction should be determined programatically using the contents of the element.
draggable Specifies whether the user is allowed to drag this <button> element or not.

Possible values:

  • true
  • false
  • auto
ValueDescription
trueThis value specifies that the element is draggable.
falseA false value specifies that the element is not draggable.
autoUses the default behavior of the user agent/browser. This is the default value.
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:

ValueDescription
copyResults in a copy of the dragged data. Default value.
moveResults in the data being moved to the new location.
linkResults in a link to the original data.
Any keyword with eight characters or more, beginning with the an ASCII case-insensitive match for the string "string:"Specifies that items with the drag data item kind Plain Unicode string and the drag data item type string set to a value that matches the remainder of the keyword are accepted.
Any keyword with six characters or more, beginning with an ASCII case-insensitive match for the string "file:"Allows you to specify which file types can be processed (i.e. copied, moved or linked) in this dropzone. Example: dropzone="copy file:image/png file:image/gif file:image/jpeg"

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.

hidden

Indicates that this particular <button> element is not yet, or is no longer, relevant. The browser/user agent does not display elements that have the hidden attribute present.

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 hidden or hidden="hidden").

Possible values:

  • [Empty string]
  • hidden
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.
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 itemid attribute can only be present in elements that include both the itemscope and the itemtype attributes, as long as the itemtype attribute specifies a vocabulary that supports global identifiers for items, as defined by that vocabulary's specification.

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:

  • A valid URL that is an absolute URL, or
  • If the item is a typed item: a "defined property name" allowed in this situation according to the specification that defines the relevant types for the item, or
  • If the item is not a typed item: a string that contains no U+002E FULL STOP characters (.) and no U+003A COLON characters (:).

Also, Specifications that introduce defined property names that are not absolute URLs must ensure all such property names contain no U+002E FULL STOP characters (.), no U+003A COLON characters (:), and no space characters.

itemref

This attribute is used in conjunction with the itemscope attribute, the itemref attribute provides a list of additional elements to crawl to find the name-value pairs of the "item". Although the itemref attribute is optional, if specified, it must have a value that is an unordered set of unique space-separated tokens that are case-sensitive, consisting of IDs of elements in the same home subtree. Also, the itemref can only be used on elements that also have the itemscope attribute present.

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 itemscope or itemscope="itemscope").

Possible values:

  • [Empty string]
  • itemscope
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 itemtype attribute must only be present in elements that include the itemscope attribute.

lang Sets the language code to be used.

Possible values:

[Must be a valid RFC 3066 language code, or an empty string.]

spellcheck Specifies whether the element should have its spelling checked.
ValueDescription
[Empty string]The element should have its spelling checked.
trueThe element should have its spelling checked.
falseThe element should not have its spelling checked.

If this attribute is missing, the element will use the default behavior, possibly based on the parent's own spellcheck state.

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.
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]

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".]

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 translate attribute is an enumerated attribute and may contain the following possible values:

  • [Empty String]
  • yes
  • no

If the translate attribute is provided, but its value is missing or is invalid, the element will inherit its value from its parent element.

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
  • Flow content.
  • Phrasing content.
  • Interactive content.
  • Listed, labelable, submittable, and reassociateable form-associated element.
  • Palpable content.
Can be usedWhere phrasing content is expected.
Content modelPhrasing 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.
  • Right: <button></button>
  • Wrong: <button>
DOM InterfaceHTMLButtonElement

Specifications for the <button> Element

Here is the <button> element defined in the various specifications: