HTML DOM childElementCount Property

Last Updated : 18 Aug, 2026

The DOM childElementCount property is used to count the number of child elements and return it. It counts only child elements except for text and comment nodes. 

Syntax

node.childElementCount
  • node: node is an object that represents the document or element. 
  • Return Value: It returns the number of child elements of the given element. 

Example: In this example, we will see the use of the DOM childElementCount property

HTML 
<!--Driver Code Starts-->
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>
        DOM childElementCount Property
    </title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>GeeksforGeeks</h1>
    <h2>
        DOM childElementCount Property
    </h2>
    <p>Searching Algorithms</p>
    <ul id="parent">
        <li>Merge sort</li>
        <li>Quick sort</li>
    </ul>
<!--Driver Code Ends-->

    <button onclick="geek()">Click Here!</button>
    <p id="p"></p>
    <script>
        function geek() {
            let doc =
                document.getElementById("parent").childElementCount;
            document.getElementById("p").innerHTML =
                "No of entries: " + doc;
        }
    </script>

<!--Driver Code Starts-->
</body>
</html>
<!--Driver Code Ends-->
  • Unlike childNodes.length (which includes all node types), childElementCount returns only the number of element children. Text nodes, comment nodes, and other non-element nodes are excluded.
  • element.childElementCount always returns the same value as element.children.length. The children property gives you the live HTMLCollection of child elements, while childElementCount is a convenient shortcut that just returns the count.
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