The Node.previousSibling read-only property returns the node immediately preceding the specified one in its parent's childNodes list, or null if the specified node is the first in that list.
Syntax
previousNode = node.previousSibling;
Example
<img id="b0"> <img id="b1"> <img id="b2">
console.log(document.getElementById("b1").previousSibling); // <img id="b0">
console.log(document.getElementById("b2").previousSibling.id); // "b1"
Notes
Gecko-based browsers insert text nodes into a document to represent whitespace in the source markup. Therefore a node obtained, for example, using Node.firstChild or Node.previousSibling may refer to a whitespace text node rather than the actual element the author intended to get.
See Whitespace in the DOM and W3C DOM 3 FAQ: Why are some Text nodes empty? for more information.
To navigate the opposite way through the child nodes list use Node.nextSibling.
Specifications
| Specification | Status | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| DOM The definition of 'Node.previousSibling' in that specification. |
Living Standard | No change |
| Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification The definition of 'Node.previousSibling' in that specification. |
Obsolete | No change |
| Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Core Specification The definition of 'Node.previousSibling' in that specification. |
Obsolete | No change |
| Document Object Model (DOM) Level 1 Specification The definition of 'Node.previousSibling' in that specification. |
Obsolete | Initial definition |
Browser compatibility
The compatibility table on this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.
| Desktop | Mobile | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
previousSibling | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support Yes | IE Full support 5.5 | Opera Full support Yes | Safari Full support Yes | WebView Android Full support Yes | Chrome Android Full support Yes | Firefox Android Full support Yes | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
Legend
- Full support
- Full support