<body>: The Document Body element

The <body> HTML element represents the content of an HTML document. There can be only one <body> element in a document.

Content categories Sectioning root.
Permitted content Flow content.
Tag omission The start tag may be omitted if the first thing inside it is not a space character, comment, <script> element or <style> element. The end tag may be omitted if the <body> element has contents or has a start tag, and is not immediately followed by a comment.
Permitted parents It must be the second element of an <html> element.
Implicit ARIA role document
Permitted ARIA roles No role permitted
DOM interface HTMLBodyElement

Attributes

This element includes the global attributes.

alink

Color of text for hyperlinks when selected. This method is non-conforming, use CSS color property in conjunction with the :active pseudo-class instead.

background

URI of a image to use as a background. This method is non-conforming, use CSS background property on the element instead.

bgcolor

Background color for the document. This method is non-conforming, use CSS background-color property on the element instead.

bottommargin

The margin of the bottom of the body. This method is non-conforming, use CSS margin-bottom property on the element instead.

leftmargin

The margin of the left of the body. This method is non-conforming, use CSS margin-left property on the element instead.

link

Color of text for unvisited hypertext links. This method is non-conforming, use CSS color property in conjunction with the :link pseudo-class instead.

onafterprint

Function to call after the user has printed the document.

onbeforeprint

Function to call when the user requests printing of the document.

onbeforeunload

Function to call when the document is about to be unloaded.

onblur

Function to call when the document loses focus.

onerror

Function to call when the document fails to load properly.

onfocus

Function to call when the document receives focus.

onhashchange

Function to call when the fragment identifier part (starting with the hash ('#') character) of the document's current address has changed.

onlanguagechange

Function to call when the preferred languages changed.

onload

Function to call when the document has finished loading.

onmessage

Function to call when the document has received a message.

onoffline

Function to call when network communication has failed.

ononline

Function to call when network communication has been restored.

onpopstate

Function to call when the user has navigated session history.

onredo

Function to call when the user has moved forward in undo transaction history.

onresize

Function to call when the document has been resized.

onstorage

Function to call when the storage area has changed.

onundo

Function to call when the user has moved backward in undo transaction history.

onunload

Function to call when the document is going away.

rightmargin

The margin of the right of the body. This method is non-conforming, use CSS margin-right property on the element instead.

text

Foreground color of text. This method is non-conforming, use CSS color property on the element instead.

topmargin

The margin of the top of the body. This method is non-conforming, use CSS margin-top property on the element instead.

vlink

Color of text for visited hypertext links. This method is non-conforming, use CSS color property in conjunction with the :visited pseudo-class instead.

Example

<html>
  <head>
    <title>Document title</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <p>This is a paragraph</p>
  </body>
</html>

Specifications

Specification
HTML Standard (HTML)
# the-body-element

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
body
1
12
1
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
18
4
Yes
Yes
1.0
alink
1
12
1
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
18
4
Yes
Yes
1.0
background
1
12
1
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
18
4
Yes
Yes
1.0
bgcolor
1
12
1
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
18
4
Yes
Yes
1.0
bottommargin
Yes
79
35
Before Firefox 35, it was supported in Quirks Mode only.
No
Yes
?
Yes
Yes
35
Before Firefox 35, it was supported in Quirks Mode only.
Yes
?
Yes
leftmargin
Yes
79
35
Before Firefox 35, it was supported in Quirks Mode only.
No
Yes
?
Yes
Yes
35
Before Firefox 35, it was supported in Quirks Mode only.
Yes
?
Yes
link
1
12
1
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
18
4
Yes
Yes
1.0
onafterprint
1
12
1
Yes
Yes
13
Yes
18
4
Yes
13
1.0
onbeforeprint
1
12
1
Yes
Yes
13
Yes
18
4
Yes
13
1.0
onbeforeunload
1
12
1
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
18
4
Yes
Yes
1.0
onblur
1
12
1
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
18
4
Yes
Yes
1.0
onerror
1
12
1
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
18
4
Yes
Yes
1.0
onfocus
1
12
1
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
18
4
Yes
Yes
1.0
onhashchange
1
12
1
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
18
4
Yes
Yes
1.0
onlanguagechange
?
?
32
No
?
?
?
?
32
?
?
?
onload
1
12
1
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
18
4
Yes
Yes
1.0
onmessage
1
12
1
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
18
4
Yes
Yes
1.0
onoffline
1
12
1
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
18
4
Yes
Yes
1.0
ononline
1
12
1
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
18
4
Yes
Yes
1.0
onpopstate
1
12
1
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
18
4
Yes
Yes
1.0
onredo
1
12
1
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
18
4
Yes
Yes
1.0
onresize
1
12
1
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
18
4
Yes
Yes
1.0
onstorage
1
12
1
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
18
4
Yes
Yes
1.0
onundo
1
12
1
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
18
4
Yes
Yes
1.0
onunload
1
12
1
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
18
4
Yes
Yes
1.0
rightmargin
Yes
79
35
Before Firefox 35, it was supported in Quirks Mode only.
No
Yes
?
Yes
Yes
35
Before Firefox 35, it was supported in Quirks Mode only.
Yes
?
Yes
text
1
12
1
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
18
4
Yes
Yes
1.0
topmargin
Yes
79
35
Before Firefox 35, it was supported in Quirks Mode only.
No
Yes
?
Yes
Yes
35
Before Firefox 35, it was supported in Quirks Mode only.
Yes
?
Yes
vlink
1
12
1
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
18
4
Yes
Yes
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/HTML/Element/body