# HTML DOM querySelector() Method

Document Object

## Example

Get the first element in the document with class="example":

document.querySelector(".example");
Try it yourself »

More "Try it Yourself" examples below.

## Definition and Usage

The querySelector() method returns the first element that matches a specified CSS selector(s) in the document.

Note: The querySelector() method only returns the first element that matches the specified selectors. To return all the matches, use the querySelectorAll() method instead.

If the selector matches an ID in document that is used several times (Note that an "id" should be unique within a page and should not used more than once), it returns the first matching element.

For more information about CSS Selectors, visit our CSS Selectors Tutorial and our CSS Selectors Reference.

## Browser Support

The numbers in the table specifies the first browser version that fully supports the method.

Method |  |  |  |  |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
querySelector() | 4.0 | 8.0 | 3.5 | 3.2 | 10.0

## Syntax

document.querySelector(CSS selectors)

## Parameter Values

Parameter | Type | Description
--- | --- | ---

CSS selectors

String

Required. Specifies one or more CSS selectors to match the element. These are used to select HTML elements based on their id, classes, types, attributes, values of attributes, etc.
For multiple selectors, separate each selector with a comma. The returned element depends on which element that is first found in the document (See "More Examples").
Tip: For a list of all CSS Selectors, look at our CSS Selectors Reference.

## Technical Details

DOM Version: | Selectors Level 1 Document Object
Return Value: | A NodeList object, representing the first element that matches the specified CSS selector(s). If no matches are found, null is returned. Throws a SYNTAX_ERR exception if the specified selector(s) is invalid.

## More Examples

## Example

Get the first <p> element in the document:

document.querySelector("p");
Try it yourself »

## Example

Get the first <p> element in the document with class="example":

document.querySelector("p.example");
Try it yourself »

## Example

Change the text of an element with id="demo":

document.querySelector("#demo").innerHTML = "Hello World!";
Try it yourself »

## Example

Get the first <p> element in the document where the parent is a <div> element.

document.querySelector("div > p");
Try it yourself »

## Example

Get the first <a> element in the document that has a "target" attribute:

document.querySelector("a[target]");
Try it yourself »

## Example

This example demonstrates how multiple selectors work.

Assume that you have two elements: a <h2> and a <h3> element.

The following code will add a background color to the first <h2> element in the document:

<h2>A h2 element</h2>
<h3>A h3 element</h3>
document.querySelector("h2, h3").style.backgroundColor = "red";
Try it yourself »

However, if the <h3> element was placed before the <h2> element in the document. The <h3> element is the one that will get the red background color.

<h3>A h3 element</h3>
<h2>A h2 element</h2>
document.querySelector("h2, h3").style.backgroundColor = "red";
Try it yourself »

## Related Pages

CSS Tutorial: CSS Selectors

CSS Reference: CSS Selectors Reference

JavaScript Tutorial: JavaScript HTML DOM Node List

JavaScript Reference: element.querySelector()

HTML DOM Reference: document.querySelectorAll()

JavaScript Reference: element.querySelectorAll()

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