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HTML <form> Tag


Example

An HTML form with two input fields and one submit button:

<form action="/action_page.php" method="get">
  First name: <input type="text" name="fname"><br>
  Last name: <input type="text" name="lname"><br>
  <input type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>
Try it Yourself »

More "Try it Yourself" examples below.


Definition and Usage

The <form> tag is used to create an HTML form for user input.

The <form> element can contain one or more of the following form elements:


Browser Support

Element
<form> Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Differences Between HTML 4.01 and HTML5

HTML5 has added two new attributes: autocomplete and novalidate, and removed the accept attribute.



Differences Between HTML and XHTML

In XHTML, the name attribute is deprecated. Use the global id attribute instead.


Attributes

= New in HTML5.

Attribute Value Description
accept file_type Not supported in HTML5.
Specifies a comma-separated list of file types  that the server accepts (that can be submitted through the file upload)
accept-charset character_set Specifies the character encodings that are to be used for the form submission
action URL Specifies where to send the form-data when a form is submitted
autocomplete on
off
Specifies whether a form should have autocomplete on or off
enctype application/x-www-form-urlencoded
multipart/form-data
text/plain
Specifies how the form-data should be encoded when submitting it to the server (only for method="post")
method get
post
Specifies the HTTP method to use when sending form-data
name text Specifies the name of a form
novalidate novalidate Specifies that the form should not be validated when submitted
target _blank
_self
_parent
_top
Specifies where to display the response that is received after submitting the form

Global Attributes

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


Event Attributes

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


Try it Yourself - Examples

Form with checkboxes
A form with two checkboxes, and a submit button.

Form with radiobuttons
A form with two radio buttons, and a submit button.


Related Pages

HTML tutorial: HTML Forms and Input

HTML DOM reference: Form Object

CSS Tutorial: Styling Forms


Default CSS Settings

Most browsers will display the <form> element with the following default values:

Example

form {
    display: block;
    margin-top: 0em;
}
Try it Yourself »