HTML DOM Element nextSibling
Example
Return the HTML content of the next sibling of a list item:
document.getElementById("item1").nextSibling.innerHTML;
Try it Yourself »
Definition and Usage
The nextSibling property returns the next node on the same tree level.
The nextSibling returnes a node object.
The nextSibling property is read-only.
Important!
nextSibling returns the next sibling node: An element node, a text node, or a comment node.
Whitespace between elements are also text nodes.
Alternative:
The nextElementSibling Property
nextElementSibling returns the next sibling element (ignores text and comments).
See Also:
Nodes vs Elements
In the HTML DOM terminology:
Nodes are all nodes (element nodes, text nodes, and comment nodes).
Whitespace between elements are also text nodes.
Elements are only element nodes.
Siblings vs Element Siblings
Siblings are "brothers" and "sisters".
Siblings are nodes with the same parent (in the same childNodes list).
Element Siblings are elements with the same parent (in the same children list).
childNodes vs children
childNodes returns child nodes (element nodes, text nodes, and comment nodes).
children returns child elements (not text and comment nodes).
nextSibling vs nextElementSibling
nextSibling returns the next node (an element node, a text node or a comment node). Whitespace between elements are also text nodes.
nextElementSibling returns the next element (not text and comment nodes).
previousSibling vs previousElementSibling
previousSibling returns the previous node (an element node, a text node or a comment node). Whitespace between elements are also text nodes.
previousElementSibling returns the previous element (not text and comment nodes).
Syntax
element.nextSibling
or
node.nextSibling
Return Value
| Type | Description |
| Node | The next sibling of the element.null if no next sibling exists. |
Browser Support
element.nextSibling is a DOM Level 1 (1998) feature.
It is fully supported in all browsers:
| Chrome | IE | Edge | Firefox | Safari | Opera |
| Yes | 9-11 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
