Node.parentElement

The Node.parentElement read-only property returns the DOM node's parent Element, or null if the node either has no parent, or its parent isn't a DOM Element.

Syntax

parentElement = node.parentElement

parentElement is the parent element of the current node. This is always a DOM Element object, or null.

Example

if (node.parentElement) {
    node.parentElement.style.color = "red";
}

Specifications

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
parentElement
1
12
9
9
Only supported on Element.
7
Before Opera 15, this feature was only supported on Element.
1.1
1
18
9
10.1
Before Opera Android 14, this feature was only supported on Element.
1
1.0

On some browsers, the parentElement property is only defined on nodes that are themselves an Element. In particular, it is not defined on text nodes.

See also

© 2005–2021 MDN contributors.
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Node/parentElement