The <body> tag is a container for all content on a web page.
A page can only have one <body> element.
A <body> tag as part of an HTML page.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Page Title</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>This is a page heading</h1>
<p>This is a paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>
A styled <body> element that creates a page in dark mode.
Click the 'Try it live' button to see it in action.
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>Title of your page</title> </head> <body style="background:black;color:white;"> <h1>A heading on your page</h1> <p>A paragraph on your page.</p> </body> </html>
The <body> element has no attributes, but it does accept global attributes.
The following are commonly used.
| Attribute | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| id | identifier | Defines a unique identifier for the body. |
| class | classnames | Sets one or more classnames to the body element. |
| style | CSS-styles | Defines CSS style values for the body element. |
| data-* | value | Defines additional data that can be used by JavaScript. |
For other global attributes see our global attributes list.
Do not use the attributes listed below. They are no longer valid on the body tag in HTML5.
| Attribute | Description | Alternative |
|---|---|---|
link |
Specifies color for unvisited links. | CSS color |
alink |
Specifies color for active links. | CSS color |
vlink |
Specifies color for visited links. | CSS color |
topmargin |
Specifies the margin to the top of the page. | CSS margin-top |
rightmargin |
Specifies the margin to the right of the body. | CSS margin-right |
bottommargin |
Specifies the margin to the bottom of the body. | CSS margin-bottom |
leftmargin |
Specifies the margin to the left of the body. | CSS margin-left |
background |
URL of image to use as a background for the page. | CSS background-image |
bgcolor |
Specifies the background color of the page. | CSS background-color |
text |
Specifies text color of the page. | CSS color |
Remarkably, in HTML5, the <body> tag is considered optional.
To test this, remove the body tags and confirm it has no impact.
However, the convention is to wrap all content inside a <body> tag.
To create a robust page structure, always include a <body> tag.
The <body> tag is part of a group of tags that
define the structure of a web page.
This group is referred to as the Page tag group.
Together, they allow you to create solid, well-structured web pages.
Here is the complete list.
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| <!DOCTYPE> | Must appear on the first line of a page. Specifies the HTML version |
| <html> | Defines the root container for an HTML document |
| <head> | Creates a head container that holds page-level metadata elements |
| <meta> | Provides metadata about a web page |
| <link> | Defines a link to an external source, such as a style sheet |
| <base> | Sets the base URL for all relative URLs on a page |
| <script> | Adds JavaScript to a page. Either client- or server-side |
| <style> | Adds CSS style elements to a page |
| <title> | Specifies the page title that displays in the browser's tab |
| <body> | Specifies a container for the content of the page, with text, links, images, etc. |
Here is when <body> support started for each browser:
 Chrome
|
1.0 | Sep 2008 |
 Firefox
|
1.0 | Sep 2002 |
 IE/Edge
|
1.0 | Aug 1995 |
 Opera
|
1.0 | Jan 2006 |
 Safari
|
1.0 | Jan 2003 |
