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HTML: <br> tag

This HTML tutorial explains how to use the HTML element called the <br> tag with syntax and examples.

Description

The HTML <br> tag defines a line break within text in the HTML document. This tag is also commonly referred to as the <br> element.

Syntax

In HTML, the syntax for the <br> tag is:

<body>
<p>The paragraph starts here<br>
and ends on the next line.</p>
</body>

or in XHTML, the syntax for the <br> tag is:

<head>
<p>The paragraph starts here<br />
and ends on the next line.</p>
</head>

Sample Output

Attributes

In addition to the Global Attributes, the following is a list of attributes that are specific to the <br> tag:

Attribute Description HTML Compatibility
clear Indicates where to begin the line after the break. Deprecated in HTML 4.01, Obsolete in HTML5

Note

  • The HTML <br> element is found within the <body> tag.
  • The <br> tag merely drops the text to the next line, producing less vertical white-space than if the <p> tag was closed at that point with </p>.

Browser Compatibility

The <br> tag has basic support with the following browsers:

  • Chrome
  • Android
  • Firefox (Gecko)
  • Firefox Mobile (Gecko)
  • Internet Explorer (IE)
  • Edge Mobile
  • Opera
  • Opera Mobile
  • Safari (WebKit)
  • Safari Mobile

Example

We will discuss the <br> tag below, exploring examples of how to use the <br> tag in HTML5, HTML 4.01 Transitional, XHTML 1.0 Transitional, XHTML 1.0 Strict, and XHTML 1.1.

  • HTML5
  • HTML4
  • XHTML

HTML5 Document

If you created a new web page in HTML5, your <br> tag might look like this:

<!doctype html>
<html>

<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>HTML5 Example by www.techonthenet.com</title>
</head>

<body>
<h1>Heading 1</h1>
<p>The paragraph starts here<br>
and ends on the next line.</p>
</html>

In this HTML5 Document example, we have created a <p> tag that has a line break <br> after the word "here" which would drop the subsequent text to the next line.

HTML 4.01 Transitional Document

If you created a new web page in HTML 4.01 Transitional, your <br> tag might look like this:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html>

<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<title>HTML 4.01 Transitional Example by www.techonthenet.com</title>
</head>

<body>
<h1>Heading 1</h1>
<p>The paragraph starts here<br>
and ends on the next line.</p>
</body>

</html>

In this HTML 4.01 Transitional Document example, we have created a <p> tag that has a line break <br> after the word "here" which would drop the subsequent text to the next line.

XHTML 1.0 Transitional Document

If you created a new web page in XHTML 1.0 Transitional, your <br> tag might look like this:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
<title>XHMTL 1.0 Transitional Example by www.techonthenet.com</title>
</head>

<body>
<h1>Heading 1</h1>
<p>The paragraph starts here<br />
and ends on the next line.</p>
</body>

</html>

In this XHTML 1.0 Transitional Document example, we have created a <p> tag that has a line break <br> after the word "here" which would drop the subsequent text to the next line.

XHTML 1.0 Strict Document

If you created a new web page in XHTML 1.0 Strict, your <br> tag might look like this:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
<title>XHTML 1.0 Strict Example by www.techonthenet.com</title>
</head>

<body>
<h1>Heading 1</h1>
<p>The paragraph starts here<br />
and ends on the next line.</p>
</body>

</html>

In this XHTML 1.0 Strict Document example, we have created a <p> tag that has a line break <br> after the word "here" which would drop the subsequent text to the next line.

XHTML 1.1 Document

If you created a new web page in XHTML 1.1, your <br> tag might look like this:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
<title>XHTML 1.1 Example by www.techonthenet.com</title>
</head>

<body>
<h1>Heading 1</h1>
<p>The paragraph starts here<br />
and ends on the next line.</p>
</body>

</html>

In this XHTML 1.1 Document example, we have created a <p> tag that has a line break <br> after the word "here" which would drop the subsequent text to the next line.

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