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What is the difference between innerHTML and textContent in JavaScript?

Asked on Aug 03, 2025

Answer

InnerHTML and textContent are both properties used to manipulate the content of HTML elements, but they serve different purposes. Here's a brief explanation and example:

<!-- BEGIN COPY / PASTE -->
        const element = document.getElementById("example");

// Using innerHTML
element.innerHTML = "<strong>Hello, World!</strong>";

// Using textContent
element.textContent = "<strong>Hello, World!</strong>";
        <!-- END COPY / PASTE -->

Additional Comment:

InnerHTML parses the string as HTML, which means it can render HTML tags and elements.
TextContent sets or returns the text content of the specified node, and all its descendants. It does not parse HTML, so any HTML tags will be treated as plain text.
Use innerHTML when you need to insert HTML elements or structure. Use textContent for inserting plain text to avoid potential security risks like XSS (Cross-Site Scripting).

✅ Answered with JavaScript best practices.

Ask any question about JavaScript here... and get an instant response.

What is the difference between innerHTML and textContent in JavaScript?

Asked on Aug 03, 2025

Answer

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