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 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.