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HTML <form> Tag

Example

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

<form action="form_action.asp" 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 examples at the bottom of this page)

Browser Support

Internet Explorer Firefox Opera Google Chrome Safari

The <form> tag is supported in all major browsers.

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:

An HTML form is used to pass data to a server.

Tip: The <form> element is a block-level element, and browsers create a line break before and after a form.

Differences Between HTML and XHTML

In XHTML, the name attribute of the <form> tag is deprecated, and will be removed. Use the id attribute instead.

Required Attributes

DTD indicates in which HTML 4.01/XHTML 1.0 DTD the attribute is allowed. S=Strict, T=Transitional, and F=Frameset.

Attribute Value Description DTD
action URL Specifies where to send the form-data when a form is submitted STF

Optional Attributes

Attribute Value Description DTD
accept MIME_type Specifies the types of files that the server accepts (that can be submitted through a file upload) STF
accept-charset character_set Specifies a list of character encodings that the server accepts STF
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") STF
method get
post		 Specifies the HTTP method to use when sending form-data STF
name name Specifies the name of a form TF
target _blank
_self
_parent
_top
framename		 Deprecated. Specifies where to display the response that is received after submitting the form TF

Standard Attributes

The <form> tag supports the following standard attributes:

Attribute Value Description DTD
class classname Specifies a classname for an element STF
dir rtl
ltr		 Specifies the text direction for the content in an element STF
id id Specifies a unique id for an element STF
lang language_code Specifies a language code for the content in an element STF
style style_definition Specifies an inline style for an element STF
title text Specifies extra information about an element STF
xml:lang language_code Specifies a language code for the content in an element, in XHTML documents STF

More information about Standard Attributes.

Event Attributes

The <form> tag supports the following event attributes:

Attribute Value Description DTD
onclick script Script to be run on a mouse click STF
ondblclick script Script to be run on a mouse double-click STF
onmousedown script Script to be run when mouse button is pressed STF
onmousemove script Script to be run when mouse pointer moves STF
onmouseout script Script to be run when mouse pointer moves out of an element STF
onmouseover script Script to be run when mouse pointer moves over an element STF
onmouseup script Script to be run when mouse button is released STF
onkeydown script Script to be run when a key is pressed STF
onkeypress script Script to be run when a key is pressed and released STF
onkeyup script Script to be run when a key is released STF
onreset script Script to be run when a form is reset  
onsubmit script Script to be run when a form is submitted  

More information about Event Attributes.

Examples

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.

Send e-mail from a form
How to send e-mail from a form.

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