Node.parentNode

The Node.parentNode read-only property returns the parent of the specified node in the DOM tree.

Syntax

JavaScript
parentNode = node.parentNode

parentNode is the parent of the current node. The parent of an element is an Element node, a Document node, or a DocumentFragment node.

Example

JavaScript
if (node.parentNode) {
  // remove a node from the tree, unless 
  // it's not in the tree already
  node.parentNode.removeChild(node);
}

Notes

Document and DocumentFragment nodes can never have a parent, so parentNode will always return null.

It also returns null if the node has just been created and is not yet attached to the tree.

Browser compatibility

Feature Firefox (Gecko) Chrome Internet Explorer Opera Safari
Basic support 1.0 (1.7 or earlier) 0.2 (Yes) (Yes) (Yes)
Feature Android Firefox Mobile (Gecko) IE Mobile Opera Mobile Safari Mobile
Basic support (Yes) 1.0 (1) (Yes) (Yes) (Yes)

Specification

See also

License

© 2016 Mozilla Contributors
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-us/docs/web/api/node/parentnode

API DOM Gecko NeedsBrowserCompatibility Property