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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-27T21:10:03+00:00

Is there a way to check whether an element can display innerHTML or $.html()

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Is there a way to check whether an element can display innerHTML or $.html() (like elems that have a separate closing tag) OR is an element whose is meant to have a src attribute according to the HTML spec such as <img>? I’m looking for fast/reliable way to do this via jQuery or native JavaScript.

Edit: According to the HTML spec, elements not designed to have inner content are called void elements but there are also elements like this <iframe src=url>inner</iframe> that are totally valid.

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Unfortunately, there isn’t a foolproof way to do this because in Javascript, any element can have those attributes.
    Also, as odd at it may seem, almost all HTML elements, including <img>, have an innerHTML attribute, even though it can’t really use it!

    Your best bet is to make a table that specifies what elements have what.

    <!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    <head>
        <title>Test</title>

        <style>
            </style>

    </head>
    <body>

        <div id="anElementWithInnerHTML"></div>
        <img id="anElementWithInnerSRC" />

        <script>

            var div = document.getElementById("anElementWithInnerHTML");
            console.log(div.innerHTML); //Outputs ""
            console.log(div.src);       //Outputs undefined

            var img = document.getElementById("anElementWithInnerSRC");
            console.log(img.innerHTML); //Outputs "" (weird right?)
            console.log(img.src);       //Outputs ""

            </script>

    </body>
</html>
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