The <textarea> Element

Forms

The <textarea> element represents a multiline plain text edit control. The contents of <textarea> (if any) represent the control's default value.

Attributes for <textarea>

Type	Attribute List
'Standard' Attributes	"autocorrect", "cols", "disabled", "name", "readonly", and "rows"
New HTML5 Attributes	"autocomplete", "dirname", "form", "maxlength", "minlength", "placeholder", "required", "wrap", and "writingsuggestions"

Syntax Notes for <textarea>

• If the "rows" attribute is not used then the control defaults to having 2 rows. If the "cols" attribute is not used then the control defaults to having 20 columns.

Recommended Links

• CanIUse.com: Search <textarea> (browser compatibility information)
• CanIEmail.com: Search <textarea> (email client compatibility information)
• HTML 4.01: TEXTAREA element
• HTML5 (WHATWG): textarea element
• MDN: <textarea>
• Quackit: HTML <textarea> tag

Accessibility Information & Tips

• Use the "title" attribute to label form controls when a label cannot be accommodated, like when there is no room for a label or it might be confusing. Visit for https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/H65 more information. If a label can be accomodated, then use the "title" attribute to provide context-sensitive help. Visit for https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/H89 more information.

Search Engine Links (for more information)

• Bing "textarea element"
• Google "textarea element"