HTML <br> Tag
Topic: HTML5 Tags ReferencePrev|Next
Description
The <br> tag produces a line break in text.
The following table summarizes the usages context and the version history of this tag.
| Placement: | Inline |
|---|---|
| Content: | None. It is an empty element. |
| Start/End Tag: | Start tag: required, End tag: forbidden |
| Version: | HTML 2, 3.2, 4, 4.01, 5 |
Syntax
The basic syntax of the <br> tag is given with:
Note: In HTML, the end tag for the <br> tag is forbidden. In XHTML, the <br> tag must be closed with a trailing slash like this: <br />. See empty elements.
The example below shows the <br> tag in action.
Example
Try this code »<p>This paragraph contains <br>a line break.</p>
<p>This paragraph contains <br>multiple <br>line breaks.</p>Tip: The <br> tag should be used only for line breaks that are actually part of the content e.g. line breaks inside poems or addresses.
Tag-Specific Attributes
The following table shows the attributes that are specific to the <br> tag.
| Attribute | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
clear |
none |
Obsolete Specifies where the next line should appear after the line break caused by this element. |
Global Attributes
Like all other HTML tags, the <br> tag supports the global attributes in HTML5.
Event Attributes
The <br> tag also supports the event attributes in HTML5.
Browser Compatibility
The <br> tag is supported in all major modern browsers.
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Basic Support—
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Further Reading
See tutorial on: HTML Paragraph.
Related tag: <hr>.
