HTML DOM Document write() method

Definition and usage

write() This method directly writes to the opened (HTML) document stream.

Warning

write() When used on a loaded document, this method will delete all existing HTML.

write() This method cannot be used in XHTML or XML.

Tip:write() This method is most commonly used to write to the output stream opened by the open() method. See the example below.

See also:

Document open() method

Document close() method

Document writeln() method

Example

Example 1

Directly write text to HTML output:

document.write("Hello World!");

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Example 2

Directly write HTML elements to HTML output:

document.write("<h2>Hello World!</h2><p>Have a nice day!</p>");

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Example 3

Use document.write() to delete all existing HTML after the document is loaded:

// Avoid this situation:
function myFunction() {
  document.write("Hello World!");
}

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Example 4

Write the date object directly to the HTML output:

document.write(Date());

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Example 5

Open an output stream, add some HTML, and then close the output stream:

document.open();
document.write("<h1>Hello World</h1>");
document.close();

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Example 6

Open a new window and write some HTML inside it:

const myWindow = window.open();
myWindow.document.write("<h1>New Window</h1>");
myWindow.document.write("<p>Hello World!</p>");

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Syntax

document.write(exp1, exp2, exp3, ...)

Parameters

Parameters Description
exp1, exp2, exp3,
...

Optional. Output stream.

Can accept multiple parameters and append them to the document in the order they appear.

Return value

None.

Difference between write() and writeln()

writeln() adds a newline character at the end of each statement. write() does not.

Example

document.write("Hello World!");
document.write("Have a nice day!");
document.write("<br>");
document.writeln("Hello World!");
document.writeln("Have a nice day!");

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Note

to use in HTML writeln() is meaningless. It is only useful when writing a plain text document (type=".txt"). Line breaks are ignored in HTML.

If you want to create a new line in HTML, you must useparagraphor <br>:

Example 1

document.write("Hello World!");
document.write("<br>");
document.write("Have a nice day!");

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Example 2

document.write("<p>Hello World!</p>");
document.write("<p>Have a nice day!</p>");

try it yourself

browser support

All browsers support document.write:

Chrome IE Edge Firefox Safari Opera
Chrome IE Edge Firefox Safari Opera
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