Element: matches() method

The matches() method of the Element interface tests whether the element would be selected by the specified CSS selector.

Syntax

matches(selectors)

Parameters

selectors: A string containing valid CSS selectors to test the Element against.

Return value

true if the Element matches the selectors. Otherwise, false.

Exceptions

SyntaxError DOMException: Thrown if selectors cannot be parsed as a CSS selector list.

Examples

HTML

html

<ul id="birds">
  <li>Orange-winged parrot</li>
  <li class="endangered">Philippine eagle</li>
  <li>Great white pelican</li>
</ul>

JavaScript

const birds = document.querySelectorAll("li");

for (const bird of birds) {
  if (bird.matches(".endangered")) {
    console.log(`The ${bird.textContent} is endangered!`);
  }
}

This will log "The Philippine eagle is endangered!" to the console, since the element has indeed a class attribute with value endangered.

Specifications

Specification
DOM Standard # ref-for-dom-element-matches①

Browser compatibility

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