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Element.firstElementChild

The Element.firstElementChild read-only property returns an element's first child Element, or null if there are no child elements.

Element.firstElementChild includes only element nodes. To get all child nodes, including non-element nodes like text and comment nodes, use Node.firstChild.

Value

An Element object, or null.

Examples

<ul id="list">
  <li>First  (1)</li>
  <li>Second (2)</li>
  <li>Third  (3)</li>
</ul>

<script>
const list = document.getElementById('list');
console.log(list.firstElementChild.textContent);
// logs "First (1)"
</script>

Specifications

Specification
DOM Standard
# ref-for-dom-parentnode-firstelementchild①

Browser compatibility

Desktop Mobile
Chrome Edge Firefox Internet Explorer Opera Safari WebView Android Chrome Android Firefox for Android Opera Android Safari on IOS Samsung Internet
firstElementChild
1
12
3.5
9
10
4
≤37
18
4
10.1
3
1.0

See also

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Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Element/firstElementChild

Name Web APIs
Version
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Last Updated 2022-04-27T09:33:08Z