HTML 4 textarea Tag
Also see HTML5 <textarea> Tag.
This page is for the HTML 4 version of this element. For a more up to date version, see HTML5 <textarea> Tag.
The HTML <textarea> tag is used within a form to declare a textarea element - a control that allows the user to input text over multiple rows.
Also see the <form> tag.
Example
The above code produces the following input controls:
Attributes
| Attributes specific to this tag: | |
|---|---|
| Attribute | Description |
| name | Assigns a name to the input control. |
| rows | Specifies the height of the textarea based on the number of visible lines of text. If there's more text than this allows, users can scroll using the textarea's scrollbars. |
| cols | Specifies the width of the textarea based on the number of visible character widths. |
| Other Attributes: | |
| Attribute | Description |
| class | Document wide identifier. |
| id | Document wide identifier |
| dir | Specifies the direction of the text |
| lang | Language code |
| title | Specifies a title to associate with the element. Many browsers will display this when the cursor hovers over the element (similar to a "tool tip"). |
| style | Inline style (CSS) |
| readonly | Sets the textarea to read-only - it won't allow the user to change the value. The textarea however, can receive focus and is included when tabbing through the form controls. |
| disabled | Disables the input control. The button won't accept changes from the user. It also cannot receive focus and will be skipped when tabbing. |
| tabindex | Helps determine the tabbing order (when the user 'tabs' through the elements on the page). |
| onfocus | Intrinsic event (see event handlers) |
| onblur | Intrinsic event (see event handlers) |
| onselect | Intrinsic event (see event handlers) |
| onchange | Intrinsic event (see event handlers) |
| onclick | Intrinsic event (see event handlers) |
| ondbclick | Intrinsic event (see event handlers) |
| onmousedown | Intrinsic event (see event handlers) |
| onmouseup | Intrinsic event (see event handlers) |
| onmouseover | Intrinsic event (see event handlers) |
| onmousemove | Intrinsic event (see event handlers) |
| onmouseout | Intrinsic event (see event handlers) |
| onkeypress | Intrinsic event (see event handlers) |
| onkeydown | Intrinsic event (see event handlers) |
| onkeyup | Intrinsic event (see event handlers) |
HTML5 Tags
The information on this page is based on HTML version 4.01. Most modern browsers now support HTML5.
See HTML5 <textarea> Tag for the HTML5 version of the above element.
See this list of HTML tags for the latest list of HTML elements.