jQuery API

.height()

Categories: CSS | Dimensions | Manipulation > Style Properties
Contents:

.height() Returns: Integer

Description: Get the current computed height for the first element in the set of matched elements.

  • version added: 1.0.height()

The difference between .css('height') and .height() is that the latter returns a unit-less pixel value (for example, 400) while the former returns a value with units intact (for example, 400px). The .height() method is recommended when an element's height needs to be used in a mathematical calculation.

This method is also able to find the height of the window and document.

$(window).height();   // returns height of browser viewport
$(document).height(); // returns height of HTML document

Example:

Show various heights. Note the values are from the iframe so might be smaller than you expected. The yellow highlight shows the iframe body.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <style>
  body { background:yellow; }
  button { font-size:12px; margin:2px; }
  p { width:150px; border:1px red solid; }
  div { color:red; font-weight:bold; }
  </style>
  <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
	<button id="getp">Get Paragraph Height</button>
  <button id="getd">Get Document Height</button>
  <button id="getw">Get Window Height</button>

  <div>&nbsp;</div>
  <p>
    Sample paragraph to test height
  </p>
<script>
    function showHeight(ele, h) {
      $("div").text("The height for the " + ele + 
                    " is " + h + "px.");
    }
    $("#getp").click(function () { 
      showHeight("paragraph", $("p").height()); 
    });
    $("#getd").click(function () { 
      showHeight("document", $(document).height()); 
    });
    $("#getw").click(function () { 
      showHeight("window", $(window).height()); 
    });

</script>
</body>
</html>

Demo:

.height( value ) Returns: jQuery

Description: Set the CSS height of every matched element.

  • version added: 1.0.height( value )

    valueAn integer representing the number of pixels, or an integer with an optional unit of measure appended (as a string).

  • version added: 1.4.1.height( function(index, height) )

    function(index, height)A function returning the height to set. Receives the index position of the element in the set and the old height as arguments.

When calling .height(value), the value can be either a string (number and unit) or a number. If only a number is provided for the value, jQuery assumes a pixel unit. If a string is provided, however, any valid CSS measurement may be used for the height (such as 100px, 50%, or auto). Note that in modern browsers, the CSS height property does not include padding, border, or margin.

If no explicit unit was specified (like 'em' or '%') then "px" is concatenated to the value.

Example:

To set the height of each div on click to 30px plus a color change.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <style>div { width:50px; height:70px; float:left; margin:5px;
        background:rgb(255,140,0); cursor:pointer; }  </style>
  <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
	<div></div>
  <div></div>

  <div></div>
  <div></div>
  <div></div>
<script>$("div").one('click', function () {
      $(this).height(30)
             .css({cursor:"auto", backgroundColor:"green"});
    });</script>
</body>
</html>

Demo:

Comments

  • Support requests, bug reports, and off-topic comments will be deleted without warning.

  • Please do post corrections or additional examples for .height() below. We aim to quickly move corrections into the documentation.
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  • Report bugs on the bug tracker or the jQuery Forum.
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  • Leloup
    In firefox
    The height for the document and windows are 125px, even if i resize the browser
  • It's because the demo is in the iframe. Iframe have 125px height.
  • Etienne Dupuis
    I had to make the left banner the same height as the content div, my banner was positioned absolute and was causing problems to stretch all the way down. This did the trick :

    $("#div1").height( $("#div2").height() );
  • Greg
    See also innerHeight() and outerHeight() when you want to include padding / borders / margins.
  • wZyla
    In Safari 4.0.4 $(window).height() and $(document).height() return different values than stated in description. $(document).height() returns height of the window, $(window).height() returns height of html document.
  • mmbee
    In demo #1, the document and window height is showing weird numbers???
  • "Note the values are from the iframe so might be smaller than you expected."