Node.parentNode

The Node.parentNode read-only property returns the parent of the specified node in the DOM tree.

Syntax

parentNode = node.parentNode

parentNode is the parent of the current node. The parent of an element is an Element node, a Document node, or a DocumentFragment node.

Example

if (node.parentNode) {
  // remove a node from the tree, unless 
  // it's not in the tree already
  node.parentNode.removeChild(node);
}

Notes

Document and DocumentFragment nodes can never have a parent, so parentNode will always return null.

It also returns null if the node has just been created and is not yet attached to the tree.

Browser compatibility

Feature Edge Firefox (Gecko) Chrome Internet Explorer Opera Safari
Basic support (Yes) 1.0 (1.7 or earlier) 0.2 (Yes) (Yes) (Yes)
Feature Android Edge Firefox Mobile (Gecko) IE Mobile Opera Mobile Safari Mobile
Basic support (Yes) (Yes) 1.0 (1) (Yes) (Yes) (Yes)

Specification

See also

Document Tags and Contributors

 Last updated by: abbycar,