✋ Update: This post was originally published on my blog decodingweb.dev, where you can read the latest version for a 💯 user experience. ~reza
The error “TypeError: getElementById is not a function” happens for two common reasons (Based on StackOverflow users):
- The capitalization of
“Id”isn’t correct - Calling
getElementById()on an element instead of the document object
Here’s what this error looks like in the browser’s console:
How to fix the “TypeError: getElementById is not a function” error
Before anything, let’s have a refresher from the MDN Docs:
The
getElementById()method returns an Element object representing the element whose id property matches the specified string.
As mentioned earlier, either the capitalization of ID is incorrect, or you’re calling this method on an element other than the document object.
If the capitalization of “Id” isn’t correct: It’s getElementbyId() and not getElementbyID() – Note the capitalized D.
Since we use ID as an abbreviation for identifier or identity document, it might feel natural to write it all in caps. But in the case of getDocumentById(), it has to be Id (with lowercase d):
// ⛔ Incorrect
const element = document.getElementByID('id-string')
// Raises Uncaught TypeError: getElementById is not a function
Here's the correct form:
// ✅ Correct
const element = document.getElementById('id-string')
If getElementById() is called on an element rather than the document object: Unlike other element locators like querySelector() - that are available on Element objects - The getElementById() function is only available as a method of the document object.
The reason is ID values are supposed to be unique throughout the document, and there is no need for "local" versions of getElementById().
Let's suppose this is our HTML document:
<!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Testing document.getElementbyId()</title>
</head>
<body>
<section id=container>
<button id=button></button>
</section>
</body>
</html>
To get the button element:
// ✅ Correct form:
const containerElement = document.getElementById('container')
const buttonElement = document.getElementByID('button')
// ⛔ But this raises the TypeError: getElementById is not a function error
buttonElement = containerElement.getElementByID('button')
Please note the ID string we pass to the function is also case-sensitive. So if the result of getElementById() is null, you might want to double check the ID string.
Here's an example:
// ⚠️ returns null since the ID is button not Button
const button = document.getElementById('Button')
// ✅ This is correct
button = document.getElementById('button')
Alright, I think that does it. If you use the "TypeError: getElementById is not a function" in your Vue or React project, the solution would be the same.
I hope this quick guide helped you fix your problem.
Thanks for reading.
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