How to add a class to a given element?

1366

votes

I have an element that already has a class:

<div class="someclass">
    <img ... id="image1" name="image1" />
</div>

Now, I want to create a JavaScript function that will add a class to the div (not replace, but add).

How can I do that?

javascriptdom-manipulation

To anyone reading this thread in 2020 or later, skip the old className method and use element.classList.add("my-class") instead. – Pikamander2

2215

votes

If you're only targeting modern browsers:

Use element.classList.add to add a class:

element.classList.add("my-class");

And element.classList.remove to remove a class:

element.classList.remove("my-class");

If you need to support Internet Explorer 9 or lower:

Add a space plus the name of your new class to the className property of the element. First, put an id on the element so you can easily get a reference.

<div id="div1" class="someclass">
    <img ... id="image1" name="image1" />
</div>

Then

var d = document.getElementById("div1");
d.className += " otherclass";

Note the space before otherclass. It's important to include the space otherwise it compromises existing classes that come before it in the class list.

Add Class

Cross Compatible

In the following example we add a classname to the <body> element. This is IE-8 compatible.

var a = document.body;
a.classList ? a.classList.add('classname') : a.className += ' classname';

This is shorthand for the following..

var a = document.body;
if (a.classList) {
    a.classList.add('wait');
} else {
    a.className += ' wait';
}

Performance

If your more concerned with performance over cross-compatibility you can shorten it to the following which is 4% faster.
```
var z = document.body;
document.body.classList.add('wait');
```

Convenience

Alternatively you could use jQuery but the resulting performance is significantly slower. 94% slower according to jsPerf
```
$('body').addClass('wait');
```

Removing the class

Performance

Using jQuery selectively is the best method for removing a class if your concerned with performance
```
var a = document.body, c = ' classname';
$(a).removeClass(c);
```

Without jQuery it's 32% slower

var a = document.body, c = ' classname';
a.className = a.className.replace( c, '' );
a.className = a.className + c;

References

Using Prototype

Element("document.body").ClassNames.add("classname")
Element("document.body").ClassNames.remove("classname")
Element("document.body").ClassNames.set("classname")

Using YUI

YAHOO.util.Dom.hasClass(document.body,"classname")
YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(document.body,"classname")
YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(document.body,"classname")

35

votes

Another approach to add the class to element using pure JavaScript

For adding class:

document.getElementById("div1").classList.add("classToBeAdded");

For removing class:

document.getElementById("div1").classList.remove("classToBeRemoved");

24

votes

When the work I'm doing doesn't warrant using a library, I use these two functions:

function addClass( classname, element ) {
    var cn = element.className;
    //test for existance
    if( cn.indexOf( classname ) != -1 ) {
        return;
    }
    //add a space if the element already has class
    if( cn != '' ) {
        classname = ' '+classname;
    }
    element.className = cn+classname;
}

function removeClass( classname, element ) {
    var cn = element.className;
    var rxp = new RegExp( "\\s?\\b"+classname+"\\b", "g" );
    cn = cn.replace( rxp, '' );
    element.className = cn;
}

22

votes

Assuming you're doing more than just adding this one class (eg, you've got asynchronous requests and so on going on as well), I'd recommend a library like Prototype or jQuery.

This will make just about everything you'll need to do (including this) very simple.

So let's say you've got jQuery on your page now, you could use code like this to add a class name to an element (on load, in this case):

$(document).ready( function() {
  $('#div1').addClass( 'some_other_class' );
} );

Check out the jQuery API browser for other stuff.

18

votes

You can use the classList.add OR classList.remove method to add/remove a class from a element.

var nameElem = document.getElementById("name")
nameElem.classList.add("anyclss")

The above code will add(and NOT replace) a class "anyclass" to nameElem. Similarly you can use classList.remove() method to remove a class.

nameElem.classList.remove("anyclss")

13

votes

To add an additional class to an element:

To add a class to an element, without removing/affecting existing values, append a space and the new classname, like so:

document.getElementById("MyElement").className += " MyClass";

To change all classes for an element:

To replace all existing classes with one or more new classes, set the className attribute:

document.getElementById("MyElement").className = "MyClass";

(You can use a space-delimited list to apply multiple classes.)

8

votes

If you don't want to use jQuery and want to support older browsers:

function addClass(elem, clazz) {
    if (!elemHasClass(elem, clazz)) {
        elem.className += " " + clazz;
    }
}

function elemHasClass(elem, clazz) {
    return new RegExp("( |^)" + clazz + "( |$)").test(elem.className);
}

8

votes

I too think that the fastest way is to use Element.prototype.classList as in es5: document.querySelector(".my.super-class").classList.add('new-class') but in ie8 there is no such thing as Element.prototype.classList, anyway you can polyfill it with this snippet (fell free to edit and improve it):

if(Element.prototype.classList === void 0){
	function DOMTokenList(classes, self){
		typeof classes == "string" && (classes = classes.split(' '))
		while(this.length){
			Array.prototype.pop.apply(this);
		}
		Array.prototype.push.apply(this, classes);
		this.__self__ = this.__self__ || self
	}

	DOMTokenList.prototype.item = function (index){
		return this[index];
	}

	DOMTokenList.prototype.contains = function (myClass){
		for(var i = this.length - 1; i >= 0 ; i--){
			if(this[i] === myClass){
				return true;
			}
		}
		return false
	}

	DOMTokenList.prototype.add = function (newClass){
		if(this.contains(newClass)){
			return;
		}
		this.__self__.className += (this.__self__.className?" ":"")+newClass;
		DOMTokenList.call(this, this.__self__.className)
	}

	DOMTokenList.prototype.remove = function (oldClass){
		if(!this.contains(newClass)){
			return;
		}
		this[this.indexOf(oldClass)] = undefined
		this.__self__.className = this.join(' ').replace(/  +/, ' ')
		DOMTokenList.call(this, this.__self__.className)
	}

	DOMTokenList.prototype.toggle = function (aClass){
		this[this.contains(aClass)? 'remove' : 'add'](aClass)
		return this.contains(aClass);
	}

	DOMTokenList.prototype.replace = function (oldClass, newClass){
		this.contains(oldClass) && this.remove(oldClass) && this.add(newClass)
	}

	Object.defineProperty(Element.prototype, 'classList', {
		get: function() {
			return new DOMTokenList( this.className, this );
		},
		enumerable: false
	})
}

6

votes

To add, remove or check element classes in a simple way:

var uclass = {
    exists: function(elem,className){var p = new RegExp('(^| )'+className+'( |$)');return (elem.className && elem.className.match(p));},
    add: function(elem,className){if(uclass.exists(elem,className)){return true;}elem.className += ' '+className;},
    remove: function(elem,className){var c = elem.className;var p = new RegExp('(^| )'+className+'( |$)');c = c.replace(p,' ').replace(/  /g,' ');elem.className = c;}
};

var elem = document.getElementById('someElem');
//Add a class, only if not exists yet.
uclass.add(elem,'someClass');
//Remove class
uclass.remove(elem,'someClass');

6

votes

I know IE9 is shutdown officially and we can achieve it with element.classList as many told above but I just tried to learn how it works without classList with help of many answers above I could learn it.

Below code extends many answers above and improves them by avoiding adding duplicate classes.

function addClass(element,className){
  var classArray = className.split(' ');
  classArray.forEach(function (className) {
    if(!hasClass(element,className)){
      element.className += " "+className;
    }
  });            
}
//this will add 5 only once
addClass(document.querySelector('#getbyid'),'3 4 5 5 5');

6

votes

You can use modern approach similar to jQuery

If you need to change only one element, first one that JS will find in DOM, you can use this:

document.querySelector('.someclass').className += " red";

.red {
  color: red;
}

<div class="someclass">
  <p>This method will add class "red" only to first element in DOM</p>
</div>

<div class="someclass">
  <p>lorem ipsum</p>
</div>

<div class="someclass">
  <p>lorem ipsum</p>
</div>

<div class="someclass">
  <p>lorem ipsum</p>
</div>

Keep in mind to leave one space before class name.

If you have multiple classes where you want to add new class, you can use it like this

document.querySelectorAll('.someclass').forEach(function(element) {
  element.className += " red";
});

.red {
  color: red;
}

<div class="someclass">
  <p>This method will add class "red" to all elements in DOM that have "someclass" class.</p>
</div>

<div class="someclass">
  <p>lorem ipsum</p>
</div>

<div class="someclass">
  <p>lorem ipsum</p>
</div>

<div class="someclass">
  <p>lorem ipsum</p>
</div>

5

votes

Just to elaborate on what others have said, multiple CSS classes are combined in a single string, delimited by spaces. Thus, if you wanted to hard-code it, it would simply look like this:

<div class="someClass otherClass yetAnotherClass">
      <img ... id="image1" name="image1" />
</div>

From there you can easily derive the javascript necessary to add a new class... just append a space followed by the new class to the element's className property. Knowing this, you can also write a function to remove a class later should the need arise.

5

votes

I think it's better to use pure JavaScript, which we can run on the DOM of the Browser.

Here is the functional way to use it. I have used ES6 but feel free to use ES5 and function expression or function definition, whichever suits your JavaScript StyleGuide.

'use strict'

const oldAdd = (element, className) => {
  let classes = element.className.split(' ')
  if (classes.indexOf(className) < 0) {
    classes.push(className)
  }
  element.className = classes.join(' ')
}

const oldRemove = (element, className) => {
  let classes = element.className.split(' ')
  const idx = classes.indexOf(className)
  if (idx > -1) {
    classes.splice(idx, 1)
  }
  element.className = classes.join(' ')
}

const addClass = (element, className) => {
  if (element.classList) {
    element.classList.add(className)
  } else {
    oldAdd(element, className)
  }
}

const removeClass = (element, className) => {
  if (element.classList) {
    element.classList.remove(className)
  } else {
    oldRemove(element, className)
  }
}

5

votes

document.getElementById('some_id').className+='  someclassname'

OR:

document.getElementById('some_id').classList.add('someclassname')

First approach helped in adding the class when second approach didn't work.
Don't forget to keep a space in front of the ' someclassname' in the first approach.

For removal you can use:

document.getElementById('some_id').classList.remove('someclassname')

3

votes

Sample with pure JS. In first example we get our element's id and add e.g. 2 classes.

document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() {
    document.getElementsById('tabGroup').className = "anyClass1 anyClass2";
})

In second example we get element's class name and add 1 more.

document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() {
    document.getElementsByClassName('tabGroup')[0].className = "tabGroup ready";
})

3

votes

For those using Lodash and wanting to update className string:

// get element reference
var elem = document.getElementById('myElement');

// add some classes. Eg. 'nav' and 'nav header'
elem.className = _.chain(elem.className).split(/[\s]+/).union(['nav','navHeader']).join(' ').value()

// remove the added classes
elem.className = _.chain(elem.className).split(/[\s]+/).difference(['nav','navHeader']).join(' ').value()

2

votes

Shortest

image1.parentNode.className+=' box';

image1.parentNode.className+=' box';

.box { width: 100px; height:100px; background: red; }

<div class="someclass">
    <img ... id="image1" name="image1" />
</div>

1

votes

You can use the API querySelector to select your element and then create a function with the element and the new classname as parameters. Using classlist for modern browsers, else for IE8. Then you can call the function after an event.

 //select the dom element
 var addClassVar = document.querySelector('.someclass');

 //define the addclass function
 var addClass = function(el,className){
   if (el.classList){
     el.classList.add(className);
   }
   else {
     el.className += ' ' + className;
  }
};

//call the function
addClass(addClassVar, 'newClass');

0

votes

first, give the div an id. Then, call function appendClass:

<script language="javascript">
  function appendClass(elementId, classToAppend){
    var oldClass = document.getElementById(elementId).getAttribute("class");
    if (oldClass.indexOf(classToAdd) == -1)
    {
      document.getElementById(elementId).setAttribute("class", classToAppend);
    }
}
</script>

0

votes

In my case, I had more than one class called main-wrapper in the DOM, but I only wanted to affect the parent main-wrapper. Using :first Selector (https://api.jquery.com/first-selector/), I could select the first matched DOM element. This was the solution for me:

$(document).ready( function() {
    $('.main-wrapper:first').addClass('homepage-redesign');
    $('#deals-index > div:eq(0) > div:eq(1)').addClass('doubleheaderredesign');
} );

I also did the same thing for the second children of a specific div in my DOM as you can see in the code where I used $('#deals-index > div:eq(0) > div:eq(1)').addClass('doubleheaderredesign');.

NOTE: I used jQuery as you can see.

-4

votes

This js code works for me

provides classname replacement

var DDCdiv = hEle.getElementBy.....

var cssCNs = DDCdiv.getAttribute('class');
var Ta = cssCNs.split(' '); //split into an array
for (var i=0; i< Ta.length;i++)
{
    if (Ta[i] == 'visible'){
        Ta[i] = 'hidden';
        break;// quit for loop
    }
    else if (Ta[i] == 'hidden'){
        Ta[i] = 'visible';
    break;// quit for loop
    }
}
DDCdiv.setAttribute('class',Ta.join(' ') );  // Join array with space and set class name

To add just use

var cssCNs = DDCdiv.getAttribute('class');
var Ta = cssCNs.split(' '); //split into an array
Ta.push('New class name');
// Ta.push('Another class name');//etc...
DDCdiv.setAttribute('class',Ta.join(' ') );  // Join array with space and set class name

To remove use

var cssCNs = DDCdiv.getAttribute('class');
var Ta = cssCNs.split(' '); //split into an array

for (var i=0; i< Ta.length;i++)
{
    if (Ta[i] == 'visible'){
        Ta.splice( i, 1 );
        break;// quit for loop
    }
}
DDCdiv.setAttribute('class',Ta.join(' ') );  // Join array with space and set class name

Hope this is helpful to sombody

-9

votes

In YUI, if you include yuidom, you can use

YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass('div1','className');

HTH

How to add a class to a given element?

25 Answers

If you're only targeting modern browsers:

If you need to support Internet Explorer 9 or lower:

Add Class

Removing the class

References

Using Prototype

Using YUI

To add an additional class to an element:

To change all classes for an element:

Shortest