HTML DOM hasChildNodes Method

# DOM Node hasChildNodes() Method

Element Object

## Example

Find out if an <ul> element has any child nodes:

var list = document.getElementById("myList").hasChildNodes();

The result of list will be:

true
Try it yourself »

More "Try it Yourself" examples below.

## Definition and Usage

The hasChildNodes() method returns true if the specified node has any child nodes, otherwise false.

Note: Whitespace inside a node is considered as text nodes, so if you leave any white space or line feeds inside an element, that element still has child nodes.

## Browser Support

Method |  |  |  |  |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
hasChildNodes() | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes

## Syntax

node.hasChildNodes()

## Parameters

None

## Technical Details

Return Value: | A Boolean, returns true if the node has child nodes, false otherwise
DOM Version | Core Level 1 Node Object

## More Examples

## Example

Remove the first child node (index 0) inside an <ul> element, if the element has any child nodes:

// Get the <ul> element with id="myList"
var list = document.getElementById("myList");
// If the <ul> element has any child nodes, remove its first child node
if (list.hasChildNodes()) {
list.removeChild(list.childNodes[0]);
}
Try it yourself »

## Related Pages

HTML DOM reference: element.childNodes() Method

HTML DOM reference: node.firstChild Property

HTML DOM reference: node.lastChild Property

HTML DOM reference: node.parentNode Property

HTML DOM reference: node.nextSibling Property

HTML DOM reference: node.previousSibling Property

Element Object

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