What Is The HTML <textarea> Tag?

Date First Published: 21st February 2023

Topic: Web Design & Development

Subtopic: Web Development

Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty: Medium

Difficulty Level: 6/10

CONTENTS

Example Of The <textarea> Tag
Attributes

Learn more about what the HTML <textarea> tag is in this article.

In HTML, the <textarea> tag is used within a form to define a multi-line plain text form field. A text area can have an unlimited number of characters and the text within this tag is often rendered in a fixed-width font. This tag is often used to define fields where users can enter and submit comments and reviews in a HTML form.

Note:

To adjust the width and height of the text area, use CSS.

Example Of The <textarea> Tag

An example of the <textarea> tag in a HTML form with the output can be seen below:

<form>

<textarea rows="4" cols="35" name="comment" placeholder="Comment"></textarea>

Attributes

The table below shows the attributes for the <textarea> tag.

Attribute	Description
autofocus	Specifies that the text area should be selected upon page loading.
cols	Specifies the visible width of the text area.
disabled	Specifies that the text ares should be disabled.
form	Specifies the form(s) that the text area belongs to.
maxlength	Specifies the maximum number of characters allowed in the textarea.
name	Specifies a name for the text area.
placeholder	Specifies a hint that describes the expected value of a text area. It is displayed when the text area is empty and disappears when it gets focus.
readonly	Specifies that the text area should be read only.
required	Specifies that the text area must be filled out.
rows	Defines the height of the text area.
spellcheck	Specifies whether the text in the text area should be checked for spelling by the browser or operating system.
wrap	Defines how the text in a text area should be wrapped when the form is submitted.