HTMLTextAreaElement: defaultValue property

{{ APIRef("HTML DOM") }}

The defaultValue property of the {{DOMxRef("HTMLTextAreaElement")}} interface represents the default text content of this text area. Getting and setting this value is equivalent to getting and setting {{domxref("Node.textContent", "textContent")}} on the {{htmlelement("textarea")}}.

Value

A string.

Examples

In the example below, the defaultValue still returns the value originally written in the HTML. If a default value is set, either via HTML or the defaultValue property, user input will update the value but will not overwrite the defaultValue.

const textareaElement = document.getElementById("comment");
console.log(textArea.defaultValue);
textArea.defaultValue = "This is the default text now!";

Specifications

{{Specifications}}

Browser compatibility

{{Compat}}

See also

• {{HTMLElement("textarea")}}
• {{DOMXref("HTMLTextAreaElement.value")}}