HTML <html> Tag
The HTML <html> tag represents the root of an HTML document. It is the container that contains all other HTML elements.
Note that the <html> tag doesn't contain the <!doctype>, because technically, the <!doctype> is not an HTML element.
Syntax
The <html> tag is written as <html></html> with all other HTML elements enclosed between the start and end tags.
The <html> element is the first HTML element in an HTML document (however, it must be preceded by a <!doctype>).
The first tag inside a <html> tag must be a <head> tag, followed by a <body> tag.
Like this:
Attributes
Attributes can be added to an HTML element to provide more information about how the element should appear or behave.
There are 3 kinds of attributes that you can add to your HTML tags: Element-specific, global, and event handler content attributes.
The <html> element accepts the following attributes.
Element-Specific Attributes
This table shows the attributes that are specific to the <html> tag/element.
| Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
| Manifest | Specifies the address of the document's application cache manifest. The value must be a valid URL. |
Global Attributes
The following attributes are standard across all HTML5 elements. Therefore, you can use these attributes with the <html> tag , as well as with all other HTML tags.
- accesskey
- class
- contenteditable
- contextmenu
- dir
- draggable
- dropzone
- hidden
- id
- inert
- itemid
- itemprop
- itemref
- itemscope
- itemtype
- lang
- spellcheck
- style
- tabindex
- title
- translate
For a full explanation of these attributes, see HTML 5 global attributes.
Event Handler Content Attributes
Event handler content attributes enable you to invoke a script from within your HTML. The script is invoked when a certain "event" occurs. Each event handler content attribute deals with a different event.
Below are the standard HTML5 event handler content attributes.
Again, you can use any of these with the <html> element, as well as any other HTML5 element.
- onabort
- oncancel
- onblur
- oncanplay
- oncanplaythrough
- onchange
- onclick
- oncontextmenu
- ondblclick
- ondrag
- ondragend
- ondragenter
- ondragexit
- ondragleave
- ondragover
- ondragstart
- ondrop
- ondurationchange
- onemptied
- onended
- onerror
- onfocus
- onformchange
- onforminput
- oninput
- oninvalid
- onkeydown
- onkeypress
- onkeyup
- onload
- onloadeddata
- onloadedmetadata
- onloadstart
- onmousedown
- onmousemove
- onmouseout
- onmouseover
- onmouseup
- onmousewheel
- onpause
- onplay
- onplaying
- onprogress
- onratechange
- onreadystatechange
- onscroll
- onseeked
- onseeking
- onselect
- onshow
- onstalled
- onsubmit
- onsuspend
- ontimeupdate
- onvolumechange
- onwaiting
For a full explanation of these attributes, see HTML 5 event handler content attributes.
Differences Between HTML 4 & HTML 5
The version attribute is not supported in HTML5 (it was deprecated in HTML 4).
HTML5 introduced the manifest attribute.
To see more detail on the two versions see HTML5 <html> Tag and HTML4 <html> Tag. Also check out the links to the official specifications below.
Template
Here's a template for the <html> tag with all available attributes for the tag (based on HTML5). These are grouped into attribute types, each type separated by a space. In many cases, you will probably only need one or two (if any) attributes. Simply remove the attributes you don't need.
For more information on attributes for this tag, see HTML5 <html> Tag and HTML4 <html> Tag.
Tag Details
For more details about the <html> tag, see HTML5 <html> Tag and HTML4 <html> Tag.
Specifications
Here are the official specifications for the <html> element.
- HTML5 Specification (W3C)
- HTML Living Standard (WHATWG)
- Current W3C Draft (the next version that is currently being worked on)
- HTML 4 (W3C)
What's the Difference?
W3C creates "snapshot" specifications that don't change once defined. So the HTML5 specification won't change once it becomes an official recommendation. WHATWG on the other hand, develops a "living standard" that is updated on a regular basis. In general, you will probably find that the HTML living standard will be more closely aligned to the current W3C draft than to the HTML5 specification.