Node.parentNode

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

Syntax

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

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

Specification

• DOM Level 2 Core: Node.parentNode
• DOM Level 3 Core: Node.parentNode

See also

• Node.firstChild
• Node.lastChild
• Node.childNodes
• Node.nextSibling
• Node.previousSibling
• Node.removeChild