{"id":196,"date":"2023-08-25T17:22:25","date_gmt":"2023-08-25T17:22:25","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/api.jquery.com\/?p=196"},"modified":"2026-01-20T17:34:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T17:34:28","slug":"empty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/api.jquery.com\/empty\/","title":{"rendered":".empty()"},"content":{"rendered":"<article id=\"empty1\" class=\"entry method\"><h2 class=\"section-title\">\n<span class=\"name\">.empty()<\/span><span class=\"returns\">Returns: <a href=\"http:\/\/api.jquery.com\/Types\/#jQuery\">jQuery<\/a><\/span>\n<\/h2>\n<div class=\"entry-wrapper\">\n<p class=\"desc\"><strong>Description: <\/strong>Remove all child nodes of the set of matched elements from the DOM.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"signatures\"><li class=\"signature\">\n<h4 class=\"name\">\n<span class=\"version-details\">version added: <a href=\"\/category\/version\/1.0\/\">1.0<\/a><\/span><a id=\"empty\" href=\"#empty\"><span class=\"icon-link\"><\/span>.empty()<\/a>\n<\/h4>\n<ul><li><div class=\"null-signature\">This method does not accept any arguments.<\/div><\/li><\/ul>\n<\/li><\/ul>\n<div class=\"longdesc\" id=\"entry-longdesc\">\n    <p>This method removes not only child (and other descendant) elements, but also any text within the set of matched elements. This is because, according to the DOM specification, any string of text within an element is considered a child node of that element. Consider the following HTML:<\/p>\n    <div class=\"syntaxhighlighter xml\">\n\t<table>\n\t\t<tbody>\n\t\t\t<tr>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<td class=\"gutter\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n1\">1<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n2\">2<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n3\">3<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n4\">4<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<td class=\"code\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<pre><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">div<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-attr\">class<\/span>=<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"container\"<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">div<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-attr\">class<\/span>=<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"hello\"<\/span>&gt;<\/span>Hello<span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">div<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">div<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-attr\">class<\/span>=<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"goodbye\"<\/span>&gt;<\/span>Goodbye<span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">div<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">div<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><\/pre>\n\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t<\/tbody>\n\t<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n    <p>We can target any element for removal:<\/p>\n    <div class=\"syntaxhighlighter javascript\">\n\t<table>\n\t\t<tbody>\n\t\t\t<tr>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<td class=\"gutter\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n1\">1<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<td class=\"code\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<pre><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>$( <span class=\"hljs-string\">\".hello\"<\/span> ).empty();<\/code><\/div><\/div><\/pre>\n\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t<\/tbody>\n\t<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n    <p>This will result in a DOM structure with the <code>Hello<\/code> text deleted:<\/p>\n    <div class=\"syntaxhighlighter xml\">\n\t<table>\n\t\t<tbody>\n\t\t\t<tr>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<td class=\"gutter\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n1\">1<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n2\">2<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n3\">3<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n4\">4<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<td class=\"code\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<pre><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">div<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-attr\">class<\/span>=<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"container\"<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">div<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-attr\">class<\/span>=<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"hello\"<\/span>&gt;<\/span><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">div<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">div<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-attr\">class<\/span>=<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"goodbye\"<\/span>&gt;<\/span>Goodbye<span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">div<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">div<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><\/pre>\n\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t<\/tbody>\n\t<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n    <p>If we had any number of nested elements inside <code>&lt;div class=\"hello\"&gt;<\/code>, they would be removed, too.<\/p>\n    <p>To avoid memory leaks, jQuery removes other constructs such as data and event handlers from the child elements before removing the elements themselves.<\/p>\n    <p>If you want to remove elements without destroying their data or event handlers (so they can be re-added later), use <a href=\"\/detach\/\"><code>.detach()<\/code><\/a> instead.<\/p>\n  <\/div>\n<section class=\"entry-examples\" id=\"entry-examples\"><header><h2>Example:<\/h2><\/header><div class=\"entry-example\" id=\"example-0\">\n<p>Removes all child nodes (including text nodes) from all paragraphs<\/p>\n<div class=\"syntaxhighlighter xml\">\n\t<table>\n\t\t<tbody>\n\t\t\t<tr>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<td class=\"gutter\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n1\">1<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n2\">2<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n3\">3<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n4\">4<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n5\">5<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n6\">6<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n7\">7<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n8\">8<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n9\">9<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n10\">10<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n11\">11<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n12\">12<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n13\">13<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n14\">14<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n15\">15<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n16\">16<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n17\">17<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n18\">18<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n19\">19<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n20\">20<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n21\">21<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n22\">22<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n23\">23<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n24\">24<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n25\">25<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n26\">26<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n27\">27<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n28\">28<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<td class=\"code\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<pre><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-meta\">&lt;!doctype <span class=\"hljs-meta-keyword\">html<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">html<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-attr\">lang<\/span>=<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"en\"<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">head<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">meta<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-attr\">charset<\/span>=<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"utf-8\"<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">title<\/span>&gt;<\/span>empty demo<span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">title<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">style<\/span>&gt;<\/span><span class=\"css\"><\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  <span class=\"hljs-selector-tag\">p<\/span> {<\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>    <span class=\"hljs-attribute\">background<\/span>: yellow;<\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  }<\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">style<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">script<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-attr\">src<\/span>=<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"https:\/\/code.jquery.com\/jquery-4.0.0.js\"<\/span>&gt;<\/span><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">script<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">head<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">body<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code> <\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">p<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  Hello, <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">span<\/span>&gt;<\/span>Person<span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">span<\/span>&gt;<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">em<\/span>&gt;<\/span>and person<span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">em<\/span>&gt;<\/span>.<\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">p<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code> <\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">button<\/span>&gt;<\/span>Call empty() on above paragraph<span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">button<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code> <\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">script<\/span>&gt;<\/span><span class=\"javascript\"><\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>$( <span class=\"hljs-string\">\"button\"<\/span> ).on( <span class=\"hljs-string\">\"click\"<\/span>, <span class=\"hljs-function\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">function<\/span>(<span class=\"hljs-params\"><\/span>) <\/span>{<\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  $( <span class=\"hljs-string\">\"p\"<\/span> ).empty();<\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>} );<\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">script<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code> <\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">body<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">html<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><\/pre>\n\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t<\/tbody>\n\t<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n<h4>Demo:<\/h4>\n<div class=\"demo code-demo\"><\/div>\n<\/div><\/section>\n<\/div><\/article>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Remove all child nodes of the set of matched elements from the DOM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,78],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dom-removal","category-78"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/api.jquery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/api.jquery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/api.jquery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/api.jquery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/api.jquery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/api.jquery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1489,"href":"https:\/\/api.jquery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196\/revisions\/1489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/api.jquery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/api.jquery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/api.jquery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}