Description
The HTML element <textarea>
is used to define a multi-line text input control, which can hold an unlimited number of characters.
It is commonly used to accept input from users that extends to multiple lines, like comments, feedback, reviews, etc.,
The text within this element is rendered by browsers in a mon-spaced or fixed-width font, usually Courier font.
The below table summarizes its usage.
Usage Details | |
Placement | It is displayed as an Inline element. |
Contents | It can contain text. |
Tags | Both the opening and closing tags are required. |
Versions | HTML 2, 3.2, 4, 4.01, 5 |
Syntax
Here is the basic syntax of the <textarea>
element.
<textarea rows="number" cols="number">...</textarea>
Examples
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<title>Example - HTML Element textarea</title>
</head>
<body>
<h2>HTML Textarea</h2>
<form>
<p>Please leave your comments here:<br>
<textarea cols="50" rows="5">write something here....</textarea>
</p>
</form>
</body>
</html>
Attributes
The following table shows the list of supported and unsupported attributes for the <textarea>
element.
Attribute Type | Details |
Element-Specific Attributes | The tag <textarea> has some element-specific attributes listed in the below table. |
Global Attributes | Like all other HTML tags, the tag <textarea> supports the HTML Global Attributes. |
Event Attributes | The tag <textarea> also supports the HTML Event Attributes. |
Here is a list of attributes that are specific to the <textarea>
element.
Attribute | Value | Required | Description |
autofocus |
autofocus |
No | Specifies that the textarea should automatically get focused when the document is loaded. |
cols |
number | No | Specifies the number of visible text lines. |
disabled |
disabled | No | This boolean attribute disables the textarea for user input or interaction. |
form |
form-id |
No | Specifies the form that the textarea is associated with i.e. its "form owner". |
maxlength |
number | No | Specifies the maximum number of characters that the user can enter in the textarea. |
minlength |
number | No | Specifies the minimum number of characters required that the user should enter in the textarea. |
name |
unique-name | No | Assign a name to the textarea control. |
placeholder |
text | No | Provides a hint to the user about what can be entered in the textarea. The placeholder text must not contain line breaks. |
readonly |
readonly |
No | This boolean attribute indicates that the user cannot modify the value of the textarea control (i.e. read-only). |
required |
required |
No | This Boolean attribute specifies that the user must fill in a value before submitting the form. |
rows |
number | No | Specifies the visible width in average character widths. |
wrap |
hard, soft | No | Specifies how the value of the textarea is to be wrapped for form submission. |
Browser Compatibility
The tag <textarea>
is supported in all modern browsers.
- Google Chrome 1+
- Internet Explorer or Edge 2+
- Firefox 1+
- Apple Safari 1+
- Opera 4+