Chapter 24: Void Elements

Not all HTML tags are of the same structure. While most elements require an opening tag, a closing tag, and
contents, some elements – known as void elements – only require an opening tag as they themselves do not contain
any elements. This topic explains and demonstrates the proper usage of void elements in HTML

Void elements

HTML 4.01/XHTML 1.0 Strict includes the following void elements:

area – clickable, defined area in an image
base – specifies a base URL from which all links base
br – line break
col – column in a table [deprecated]
hr – horizontal rule (line)
img – image
input – field where users enter data
link – links an external resource to the document
meta – provides information about the document
param – defines parameters for plugins

HTML 5 standards include all non-deprecated tags from the previous list and

command – represents a command users can invoke [obsolete]
keygen – facilitates public key generation for web certificates [deprecated]
source – specifies media sources for picture, audio, and video elements

The example below does not include void elements:

<div>
 <a href="http://stackoverflow.com/">
 <h3>Click here to visit <i>Stack Overflow!</i></h3>
 </a>
 <button >



Notice how every element has an opening tag, a closing tag, and text or other elements inside the opening and
closing tags. Void tags however, are shown in the example below:
 <img src="https://cdn.sstatic.net/Sites/stackoverflow/company/img/logos/so/so-icon.png" />
<br>
<hr>
<input type="number" placeholder="Enter your favorite number">
 With the exception of the img tag, all of these void elements have only an opening tag. The img tag, unlike any other
tag, has a self closing / before the greater than sign of the opening tag. It is best practice to have a space before the
slash.