DEV Community

wasifali
wasifali

Posted on

HTML input attributes with examples

HTML input attributes

HTML <input> elements have various attributes that control their behavior and appearance. Here are some of the most commonly used attributes:

Type

Specifies the type of input control. Common types include:

Example

<input type="text">
<input type="password">
<input type="checkbox">
<input type="radio">
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Text

A single-line text input (default).

Example

<input type="text" value="Initial Value">
<input type="checkbox" value="check1">
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

password

A text input where the entered text is masked.

Example

<label for="password">Password:</label>
<input type="password" id="password" name="password">
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

checkbox

A checkbox allowing multiple selections.

<input type="checkbox" id="agree" checked>
<label for="agree">I agree to the terms</label>
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Radio

A radio button allowing single selection from multiple options.

Example

<form>
  <input type="radio" id="male" name="gender" value="male">
  <label for="male">Male</label><br>

  <input type="radio" id="female" name="gender" value="female">
  <label for="female">Female</label><br>

  <input type="radio" id="other" name="gender" value="other">
  <label for="other">Other</label><br>
</form>
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

File

A control to select a file for upload.

Example

<form action="/upload" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">
  <label for="myfile">Select a file:</label>
  <input type="file" id="myfile" name="myfile"><br><br>

  <input type="submit" value="Upload File">
</form>
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Submit

A button to submit a form.

Example

<form action="/submit-form" method="post">
  <label for="username">Username:</label>
  <input type="text" id="username" name="username"><br><br>

  <label for="password">Password:</label>
  <input type="password" id="password" name="password"><br><br>

  <input type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Reset

A button to reset form inputs to their default values.

Example

<form>
  <label for="fname">First Name:</label>
  <input type="text" id="fname" name="fname"><br><br>

  <label for="lname">Last Name:</label>
  <input type="text" id="lname" name="lname"><br><br>

  <input type="reset" value="Reset">
  <input type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Button

A generic button (useful with JavaScript).
email, tel, url, etc.: Input types for specific data formats (helps with mobile keyboards and validation).

Example

<button type="button">Click Me!</button>
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Name

The name of the input field, which is submitted along with the form data. It must be unique within the form.

Example

<input type="text" name="username">
<input type="email" name="useremail">
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Value

The initial value of the input field. For checkboxes and radio buttons, this attribute determines the value that gets submitted when the input is checked/selected.

Example

<input type="text" value="Initial Value">
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Placeholder

A short hint or example text displayed in the input field before the user enters a value. It's typically used for providing a hint about the expected input format.

Example

<input type="text" placeholder="Enter your name">
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Required

Specifies that the input field must be filled out before submitting the form. It triggers browser validation and displays an error message if the field is empty.

Example

<input type="text" required>
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Disabled

Disables the input field so that its value is not submitted with the form and the user cannot interact with it.

Example

<input type="text" value="Disabled field" disabled>
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Readonly

Makes the input field read-only, meaning the user can see its value but cannot modify it.

Example

<input type="text" value="Read-only value" readonly>
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Maxlength and Minlength

Specifies the maximum and minimum length of text allowed in a text input.

Example

<input type="number" min="1" max="100">
<input type="date" min="2020-01-01" max="2024-12-31">
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Maxlength

Sets the maximum number of characters allowed in the input field.

Example

<input type="text" maxlength="50">
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Size

Specifies the width of the input field in characters (applies only to text, password, and search types).

Example

<label for="username">Username:</label>
<input type="text" id="username" name="username" size="30">
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Pattern

Specifies a regular expression pattern that the input value must match to be considered valid.

Example

<input type="text" pattern="[A-Za-z]{3}">
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Autocomplete

Enables or disables autocomplete suggestions for the input field. Values can be on or off.

Example

<form action="/shipping-details" method="post" autocomplete="shipping">
  <label for="fullname">Full Name:</label>
  <input type="text" id="fullname" name="fullname"><br><br>

  <label for="address">Address:</label>
  <input type="text" id="address" name="address"><br><br>

  <input type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Autofocus

Specifies that the input field should automatically get focus when the page loads.

Example

<input type="text" autofocus>
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Multiple

Specifies that multiple values can be entered into a file input
(<input type="file">).

Example

<label for="files">Select multiple files:</label><br>
<input type="file" id="files" name="files" multiple>
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

These attributes can be combined to customize the behavior and appearance of <input> elements according to the specific needs of your HTML form. Each type of input (<input>) element may support different subsets of these attributes depending on its intended use.

Top comments (0)