Element.matches()

The matches() method checks to see if the Element would be selected by the provided selectorString -- in other words -- checks if the element "is" the selector.

Syntax

var result = element.matches(selectorString);

Parameters

selectorString is a string representing the selector to test.

Return value

result is a boolean value.

Exceptions

SyntaxError DOMException

Thrown if the specified selector string is invalid.

Example

<ul id="birds">
  <li>Orange-winged parrot</li>
  <li class="endangered">Philippine eagle</li>
  <li>Great white pelican</li>
</ul>

<script type="text/javascript">
  var birds = document.getElementsByTagName('li');

  for (var i = 0; i < birds.length; i++) {
    if (birds[i].matches('.endangered')) {
      console.log('The ' + birds[i].textContent + ' is endangered!');
    }
  }
</script>

This will log "The Philippine eagle is endangered!" to the console, since the element has indeed a class attribute with value endangered.

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• The syntax of Selectors
• Other methods that take selectors: element.querySelector() and element.closest().