HTML textarea Tag

Definition and Usage

The <textarea> tag defines a multi-line text input control.

A text area can hold an unlimited number of characters, and the text renders in a fixed-width font (usually Courier).

The size of a text area can be specified by the cols and rows attributes, or even better; through CSS' height and width properties.

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Browser Support

Element
<textarea>	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

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Differences Between HTML 4.01 and HTML5

HTML5 has added several new attributes.

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Attributes

= New in HTML5.

Attribute	Value	Description
autofocus	autofocus	Specifies that a text area should automatically get focus when the page loads
cols	number	Specifies the visible width of a text area
dirname	textareaname.dir	Specifies that the text direction of the textarea will be submitted
disabled	disabled	Specifies that a text area should be disabled
form	form_id	Specifies one or more forms the text area belongs to
maxlength	number	Specifies the maximum number of characters allowed in the text area
name	text	Specifies a name for a text area
placeholder	text	Specifies a short hint that describes the expected value of a text area
readonly	readonly	Specifies that a text area should be read-only
required	required	Specifies that a text area is required/must be filled out
rows	number	Specifies the visible number of lines in a text area
wrap	hard soft	Specifies how the text in a text area is to be wrapped when submitted in a form

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Global Attributes

The <textarea> tag also supports the Global Attributes in HTML.

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Event Attributes

The <textarea> tag also supports the Event Attributes in HTML.

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Related Pages

HTML DOM reference: Textarea Object

CSS Tutorial: Styling Forms

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Default CSS Settings

None