<form>

The HTML <form> element represents a document section containing interactive controls for submitting information.

It is possible to use the :valid and :invalid CSS pseudo-classes to style a <form> element based on whether or not the elements inside the form are valid.

Content categories Flow content, palpable content
Permitted content Flow content, but not containing <form> elements
Tag omission None, both the starting and ending tag are mandatory.
Permitted parents Any element that accepts flow content
Implicit ARIA role form if the form has an accessible name, otherwise no corresponding role
Permitted ARIA roles search, none or presentation
DOM interface HTMLFormElement

Attributes

This element includes the global attributes.

accept
Comma-separated content types the server accepts.
This attribute was removed in HTML5 and should not be used. Instead, use the accept attribute on <input type=file> elements.
accept-charset
Space-separated character encodings the server accepts. The browser uses them in the order in which they are listed. The default value means the same encoding as the page.
(In previous versions of HTML, character encodings could also be delimited by commas.)
autocapitalize
A nonstandard attribute used by iOS Safari that controls how textual form elements should be automatically capitalized. autocapitalize attributes on a form elements override it on <form>. Possible values:
  • none: No automatic capitalization.
  • sentences (default): Capitalize the first letter of each sentence.
  • words: Capitalize the first letter of each word.
  • characters: Capitalize all characters — that is, uppercase.
autocomplete
Indicates whether input elements can by default have their values automatically completed by the browser. autocomplete attributes on form elements override it on <form>. Possible values:
  • off: The browser may not automatically complete entries. (Browsers tend to ignore this for suspected login forms; see The autocomplete attribute and login fields.)
  • on: The browser may automatically complete entries.
name
The name of the form. Deprecated as of HTML 4 (use id instead). It must be unique among the forms in a document and not an empty string as of HTML5.
rel
Creates a hyperlink or annotation depending on the value, see the rel attribute for details.

Attributes for form submission

The following attributes control behavior during form submission.

action
The URL that processes the form submission. This value can be overridden by a formaction attribute on a <button>, <input type="submit">, or <input type="image"> element.
enctype
If the value of the method attribute is post, enctype is the MIME type of the form submission. Possible values:
  • application/x-www-form-urlencoded: The default value.
  • multipart/form-data: Use this if the form contains <input> elements with type=file.
  • text/plain: Introduced by HTML5 for debugging purposes.

This value can be overridden by formenctype attributes on <button>, <input type="submit">, or <input type="image"> elements.

method
The HTTP method to submit the form with. Possible (case insensitive) values:

This value is overridden by formmethod attributes on <button>, <input type="submit">, or <input type="image"> elements.

novalidate
This Boolean attribute indicates that the form shouldn't be validated when submitted. If this attribute is not set (and therefore the form is validated), it can be overridden by a formnovalidate attribute on a <button>, <input type="submit">, or <input type="image"> element belonging to the form.
target
Indicates where to display the response after submitting the form. In HTML 4, this is the name/keyword for a frame. In HTML5, it is a name/keyword for a browsing context (for example, tab, window, or iframe). The following keywords have special meanings:
  • _self (default): Load into the same browsing context as the current one.
  • _blank: Load into a new unnamed browsing context.
  • _parent: Load into the parent browsing context of the current one. If no parent, behaves the same as _self.
  • _top: Load into the top-level browsing context (i.e., the browsing context that is an ancestor of the current one and has no parent). If no parent, behaves the same as _self.

This value can be overridden by a formtarget attribute on a <button>, <input type="submit">, or <input type="image"> element.

Examples

HTML

<!-- Form which will send a GET request to the current URL -->
<form>
  <label>Name:
    <input name="submitted-name" autocomplete="name">
  </label>
  <button>Save</button>
</form>

<!-- Form which will send a POST request to the current URL -->
<form method="post">
  <label>Name:
    <input name="submitted-name" autocomplete="name">
  </label>
  <button>Save</button>
</form>

<!-- Form with fieldset, legend, and label -->
<form method="post">
  <fieldset>
    <legend>Title</legend>
    <label><input type="radio" name="radio"> Select me</label>
  </fieldset>
</form>

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
HTML Living Standard
The definition of '<form>' in that specification.
Living Standard
HTML5
The definition of '<form>' in that specification.
Recommendation
HTML 4.01 Specification
The definition of '<form>' in that specification.
Recommendation Initial definition

Browser compatibility

DesktopMobile
ChromeEdgeFirefoxInternet ExplorerOperaSafariAndroid webviewChrome for AndroidFirefox for AndroidOpera for AndroidSafari on iOSSamsung Internet
formChrome Full support YesEdge Full support 12Firefox Full support YesIE Full support YesOpera Full support YesSafari Full support YesWebView Android Full support YesChrome Android Full support YesFirefox Android Full support YesOpera Android Full support YesSafari iOS Full support YesSamsung Internet Android Full support Yes
accept
Deprecated
Chrome Full support YesEdge Full support 12Firefox Full support YesIE Full support YesOpera Full support YesSafari Full support YesWebView Android Full support YesChrome Android Full support YesFirefox Android Full support YesOpera Android Full support YesSafari iOS Full support YesSamsung Internet Android Full support Yes
accept-charsetChrome Full support YesEdge Full support 12Firefox Full support YesIE Full support YesOpera Full support YesSafari Full support YesWebView Android Full support YesChrome Android Full support YesFirefox Android Full support YesOpera Android Full support YesSafari iOS Full support YesSamsung Internet Android Full support Yes
actionChrome Full support YesEdge Full support 12Firefox Full support YesIE Full support YesOpera Full support YesSafari Full support YesWebView Android Full support YesChrome Android Full support YesFirefox Android Full support YesOpera Android Full support YesSafari iOS Full support YesSamsung Internet Android Full support Yes
autocapitalize
Non-standard
Chrome No support NoEdge No support NoFirefox No support NoIE No support NoOpera No support NoSafari No support NoWebView Android No support NoChrome Android No support NoFirefox Android No support NoOpera Android No support NoSafari iOS Full support YesSamsung Internet Android No support No
autocompleteChrome Full support Yes
Notes
Full support Yes
Notes
Notes The Google Chrome UI for auto-complete request varies, depending on whether autocomplete is set to off on <input> elements as well as their form. Specifically, when a form has autocomplete set to off and its <input> element's autocomplete attribute is not set, then if the user asks for autofill suggestions for the <input> element, Chrome might display a message saying 'autocomplete has been disabled for this form.' On the other hand, if both the form and the input element have autocomplete set to off, the browser will not display that message. For this reason, you should set autocomplete to off for each <input> that has custom auto-completion.
Edge Full support 12Firefox Full support YesIE Full support YesOpera Full support YesSafari Full support YesWebView Android Full support YesChrome Android Full support YesFirefox Android Full support YesOpera Android Full support YesSafari iOS Full support YesSamsung Internet Android Full support Yes
enctypeChrome Full support YesEdge Full support 12Firefox Full support YesIE Full support YesOpera Full support YesSafari Full support YesWebView Android Full support YesChrome Android Full support YesFirefox Android Full support YesOpera Android Full support YesSafari iOS Full support YesSamsung Internet Android Full support Yes
methodChrome Full support YesEdge Full support 12Firefox Full support YesIE Full support YesOpera Full support YesSafari Full support YesWebView Android Full support YesChrome Android Full support YesFirefox Android Full support YesOpera Android Full support YesSafari iOS Full support YesSamsung Internet Android Full support Yes
nameChrome Full support YesEdge Full support 12Firefox Full support YesIE Full support YesOpera Full support YesSafari Full support YesWebView Android Full support YesChrome Android Full support YesFirefox Android Full support YesOpera Android Full support YesSafari iOS Full support YesSamsung Internet Android Full support Yes
novalidateChrome Full support 10Edge Full support 12Firefox Full support 4IE Full support 10Opera Full support 15Safari Full support 10.1WebView Android Full support 37Chrome Android Full support 18Firefox Android Full support 4Opera Android Full support 14Safari iOS Full support 10.3Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
targetChrome Full support YesEdge Full support 12Firefox Full support YesIE Full support YesOpera Full support YesSafari Full support YesWebView Android Full support YesChrome Android Full support YesFirefox Android Full support YesOpera Android Full support YesSafari iOS Full support YesSamsung Internet Android Full support Yes

Legend

Full support
Full support
No support
No support
Non-standard. Expect poor cross-browser support.
Non-standard. Expect poor cross-browser support.
Deprecated. Not for use in new websites.
Deprecated. Not for use in new websites.
See implementation notes.
See implementation notes.

See also