What is the difference between innerHTML and textContent?

<p>The difference between textContent and innerHTML is: 1. textContent processes plain text and automatically escapes HTML characters, which is suitable for inserting or extracting plain text; 2. innerHTML parses and renders HTML content, which is suitable for manipulating HTML structures. textContent is faster and safer, while innerHTML has XSS risks but can update HTML dynamically. Select according to requirements: Use innerHTML when HTML is required, and textContent is used when text is only used. </p> <p><img src="/static/imghw/default1.png" data-src="https://img.php.cn/upload/article/000/000/000/175043641267138.jpg" class="lazy" alt="What is the difference between innerHTML and textContent?"></p> <p> When you're working with HTML elements in JavaScript and need to manipulate text or HTML content, two common properties come into play: <code>innerHTML</code> and <code>textContent</code> . They might seem similar at first glance, but they behave quite differently under the hood. Here's what you need to know.</p> <hr> <h3 id="What-code-innerHTML-code-Actually-Does"> What <code>innerHTML</code> Actually Does</h3> <p> The <code>innerHTML</code> property gets or sets the HTML content (the inner HTML) of an element. This means it parses whatever string you give it as HTML and renders it accordingly.</p> <p> For example:</p><pre class='brush:php;toolbar:false;'> element.innerHTML = '<strong>Hello</strong>';</pre><p> This will actually render the word "Hello" in bold because the browser interprets the HTML tags.</p><p> One thing to watch out for is that using <code>innerHTML</code> can be a security risk if you're inserting user-generated content without sanitizing it first. Malicious scripts could be injected this way, so always be cautious when using it with untrusted input.</p><p> Use cases where <code>innerHTML</code> makes sense include:</p><ul><li> Inserting dynamic HTML from a trusted source</li><li> Replacing large chunks of markup inside a container</li><li> Building UI components where HTML structure matters</li></ul><hr /><h3 id="How-code-textContent-code-Works-Differently"> How <code>textContent</code> Works Differently</h3><p> On the other hand, <code>textContent</code> deals purely with text. It sets or retrieves all the text content of an element, automatically escaping any HTML characters like <code><</code> , <code>></code> , and <code>&</code> .</p><p> So if you do:</p><pre class='brush:php;toolbar:false;'> element.textContent = '<strong>Hello</strong>';</pre><p> What you'll see on the page is literally <code><strong>Hello</strong></code> — no bold text, just plain text showing the HTML string.</p> <p> Some key advantages of using <code>textContent</code> :</p> <ul> <li> It's faster than <code>innerHTML</code> because there's no HTML parsing involved</li> <li> It's safer for inserting user-generated content</li> <li> It respects CSS styling — hidden elements won't be included</li> </ul> <p> If your goal is to display or retrieve raw text, especially from user input or data sources, <code>textContent</code> is usually the better choice.</p> <hr> <h3 id="Performance-and-Security-Considerations"> Performance and Security Considerations</h3> <p> There are some important differences to keep in mind beyond just functionality:</p> <ul> <li><p> <strong>Performance</strong> : <code>textContent</code> tends to be more efficient because it doesn't involve parsing HTML. If you're only dealing with text, using <code>textContent</code> avoids unnecessary overhead.</p></li> <li><p> <strong>Security</strong> : Using <code>innerHTML</code> carelessly can expose your app to XSS (cross-site scripting) attacks. Always sanitize any HTML before inserting it via <code>innerHTML</code> .</p></li> <li><p> <strong>Whitespace handling</strong> : <code>textContent</code> will return all text content including spaces and line breaks, while <code>innerText</code> (a related but different property) respects visible formatting — something worth noting if you're extracting content from pages.</p></li> </ul> <p> So if you're unsure which one to use:</p> <ul> <li> Use <code>textContent</code> when you only need to insert or extract text</li> <li> Use <code>innerHTML</code> when you specifically need to work with HTML markup</li> </ul> <hr> <p> And that's basically it. The difference boils down to how each handles HTML — one treatments it as markup, the other as plain text. Not complicated once you get the hang of it, but easy to mix up if you're not paying attention.</p>

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