--- title: HTMLFormElement slug: Web/API/HTMLFormElement tags: - API - DOM - HTML - Interface - NeedsTranslation - Reference - TopicStub translation_of: Web/API/HTMLFormElement ---

The HTMLFormElement interface provides methods to create and modify {{HTMLElement("form")}} elements.

document.forms - returns an array of HTMLFormElement objects referencing all forms on the page.
document.forms[index] - returns an HTMLFormElement object referencing the form at the specified index.
document.forms['id'] - returns an HTMLFormElement object referencing the form with the specified id.
document.forms['name'] - returns an HTMLFormElement object referencing the form with the specified name.

Properties

This interface also inherits properties from its parent, {{domxref("HTMLElement")}}.

{{domxref("HTMLFormElement.elements")}}{{ReadOnlyInline}}: A {{domxref("HTMLFormControlsCollection")}} holding all form controls belonging to this form element.
{{domxref("HTMLFormElement.length")}}{{ReadOnlyInline}}: A long reflecting the number of controls in the form.
{{domxref("HTMLFormElement.name")}}: A {{domxref("DOMString")}} reflecting the value of the form's {{ htmlattrxref("name", "form") }} HTML attribute, containing the name of the form.
{{domxref("HTMLFormElement.method")}}: A {{domxref("DOMString")}} reflecting the value of the form's {{ htmlattrxref("method", "form") }} HTML attribute, indicating the HTTP method used to submit the form. Only specified values can be set.
{{domxref("HTMLFormElement.target")}}: A {{domxref("DOMString")}} reflecting the value of the form's {{ htmlattrxref("target", "form") }} HTML attribute, indicating where to display the results received from submitting the form.
{{domxref("HTMLFormElement.action")}}: A {{domxref("DOMString")}} reflecting the value of the form's {{ htmlattrxref("action", "form") }} HTML attribute, containing the URI of a program that processes the information submitted by the form.
{{domxref("HTMLFormElement.encoding")}} or {{domxref("HTMLFormElement.enctype")}}: A {{domxref("DOMString")}} reflecting the value of the form's {{ htmlattrxref("enctype", "form") }} HTML attribute, indicating the type of content that is used to transmit the form to the server. Only specified values can be set. The two methods are synonyms.
{{domxref("HTMLFormElement.acceptCharset")}}: A {{domxref("DOMString")}} reflecting the value of the form's {{ htmlattrxref("accept-charset", "form") }} HTML attribute, representing the character encoding that the server accepts.
{{domxref("HTMLFormElement.autocomplete")}}: A {{domxref("DOMString")}} reflecting the value of the form's {{ htmlattrxref("autocomplete", "form") }} HTML attribute, indicating whether the controls in this form can have their values automatically populated by the browser.
{{domxref("HTMLFormElement.noValidate")}}: A {{jsxref("Boolean")}} reflecting the value of the form's {{ htmlattrxref("novalidate", "form") }} HTML attribute, indicating whether the form should not be validated.

Named inputs are added to their owner form instance as properties, and can overwrite native properties if they share the same name (eg a form with an input named action will have its action property return that input instead of the form's {{ htmlattrxref("action", "form") }} HTML attribute).

Methods

This interface also inherits methods from its parent, {{domxref("HTMLElement")}}.

{{domxref("HTMLFormElement.submit()")}}: Submits the form to the server.
{{domxref("HTMLFormElement.reset()")}}: Resets the form to its initial state.
{{domxref("HTMLFormElement.checkValidity()")}}: Returns true if the element's child controls are subject to constraint validation and satisfy those contraints; returns false if some controls do not satisfy their constraints. Fires an event named {{event("invalid")}} at any control that does not satisfy its constraints; such controls are considered invalid if the event is not canceled. It is up to the programmer to decide how to respond to false.
{{domxref("HTMLFormElement.reportValidity()")}}: Returns true if the element's child controls satisfy their validation constraints. When false is returned, cancelable {{Event("invalid")}} events are fired for each invalid child and validation problems are reported to the user.
{{domxref("HTMLFormElement.requestAutocomplete()")}} {{obsolete_inline}}: Triggers a native browser interface to assist the user in completing the fields which have an autofill field name value that is not off or on. The form will receive an event once the user has finished with the interface, the event will either be {{event("autocomplete")}} when the fields have been filled or {{event("autocompleteerror")}} when there was a problem. This method has been removed from Chrome and Firefox — see {{bug(1270740)}} for background information on why.

Examples

Create a new form element, modify its attributes and submit it:

var f = document.createElement("form");// Create a form
document.body.appendChild(f);          // Add it to the document body
f.action = "/cgi-bin/some.cgi";        // Add action and method attributes
f.method = "POST"
f.submit();                            // Call the form's submit method

Extract information from a form element and set some of its attributes:

<form name="formA" id="formA" action="/cgi-bin/test" method="POST">
 <p>Click "Info" for form details; "Set" to change settings.</p>
 <p>
  <input type="button" value="info" onclick="getFormInfo();">
  <input type="button" value="set"  onclick="setFormInfo(this.form);">
  <input type="reset" value="reset"><br>
  <textarea id="tex" style="height:15em; width:20em"></textarea>
 </p>
</form>

<script type="text/javascript">
  function getFormInfo(){
    var info;
    var f = document.forms["formA"]; //Get a reference to the form via id.
    info = "elements: " + f.elements     + "\n"
         + "length: "   + f.length       + "\n"
         + "name: "     + f.name         + "\n"
         + "charset: "  + f.acceptCharset+ "\n"
         + "action: "   + f.action       + "\n"
         + "enctype: "  + f.enctype      + "\n"
         + "encoding: " + f.encoding     + "\n"
         + "method: "   + f.method       + "\n"
         + "target: "   + f.target;
    document.forms["formA"].elements['tex'].value = info;
  }
  function setFormInfo(f){ //Argument is a reference to the form.
    f.method = "GET";
    f.action = "/cgi-bin/evil_executable.cgi";
    f.name   = "totally_new";
  }
</script>

Submit a form in a popup window:

<!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
<title>MDN Example</title>
<script type="text/javascript">
function popupSend (oFormElement) {
  if (oFormElement.method && oFormElement.method.toLowerCase() !== "get") {
    console.error("This script supports the GET method only.");
    return;
  }
  var oField, sFieldType, nFile, sSearch = "";
  for (var nItem = 0; nItem < oFormElement.elements.length; nItem++) {
    oField = oFormElement.elements[nItem];
    if (!oField.hasAttribute("name")) { continue; }
    sFieldType = oField.nodeName.toUpperCase() === "INPUT" ? oField.getAttribute("type").toUpperCase() : "TEXT";
    if (sFieldType === "FILE") {
      for (nFile = 0; nFile < oField.files.length; sSearch += "&" + escape(oField.name) + "=" + escape(oField.files[nFile++].name));
    } else if ((sFieldType !== "RADIO" && sFieldType !== "CHECKBOX") || oField.checked) {
      sSearch += "&" + escape(oField.name) + "=" + escape(oField.value);
    }
  }
  open(oFormElement.action.replace(/(?:\?.*)?$/, sSearch.replace(/^&/, "?")), "submit-" + (oFormElement.name || Math.floor(Math.random() * 1e6)), "resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes");
}
</script>

</head>

<body>

<form name="yourForm" action="test.php" method="get" onsubmit="popupSend(this); return false;">
  <p>First name: <input type="text" name="firstname" /><br />
  Last name: <input type="text" name="lastname" /><br />
  Password: <input type="password" name="pwd" /><br />
  <input type="radio" name="sex" value="male" /> Male <input type="radio" name="sex" value="female" /> Female</p>
  <p><input type="checkbox" name="vehicle" value="Bike" />I have a bike<br />
  <input type="checkbox" name="vehicle" value="Car" />I have a car</p>
  <p><input type="submit" value="Submit" /></p>
</form>

</body>
</html>

Submitting forms and uploading files using `XMLHttpRequest`

If you want to know how to serialize and submit a form using the {{domxref("XMLHttpRequest")}} API, please read this paragraph.

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
{{SpecName('HTML WHATWG', "forms.html#the-form-element", "HTMLFormElement")}}	{{Spec2('HTML WHATWG')}}	The following method has been added: `requestAutocomplete()`.
{{SpecName('HTML5 W3C', "forms.html#the-form-element", "HTMLFormElement")}}	{{Spec2('HTML5 W3C')}}	The elements properties returns an {{domxref("HTMLFormControlsCollection")}} instead of a raw {{domxref("HTMLCollection")}}. This is mainly a technical change. The following method has been added: `checkValidity()`. The following properties have been added: `autocomplete`, `noValidate`, and `encoding`.
{{SpecName('DOM2 HTML', 'html.html#ID-40002357', 'HTMLFormElement')}}	{{Spec2('DOM2 HTML')}}	No change
{{SpecName('DOM1', 'level-one-html.html#ID-40002357', 'HTMLFormElement')}}	{{Spec2('DOM1')}}	Initial definition

Browser compatibility

Feature	Chrome	Edge	Firefox (Gecko)	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari (WebKit)
Basic support	{{CompatVersionUnknown}}	{{CompatVersionUnknown}}	{{CompatGeckoDesktop(1.0)}}^[1]	{{CompatVersionUnknown}}	{{CompatVersionUnknown}}	{{CompatVersionUnknown}}

Feature	Android	Edge	Firefox Mobile (Gecko)	IE Phone	Opera Mobile	Safari Mobile
Basic support	{{CompatVersionUnknown}}	{{CompatVersionUnknown}}	{{CompatGeckoMobile(1.0)}}^[1]	{{CompatVersionUnknown}}	{{CompatVersionUnknown}}	{{CompatVersionUnknown}}

[1] In Firefox 56, the implementation has been updated so that the action property returns the correct form submission URL, as per spec ({{bug(1366361)}}).