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.

Syntax

// Getter
element = el.firstElementChild;

// No setter; read-only property

Example

<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

Browser compatibility

See also

• Element.nextElementSibling
• Element.lastElementChild