Strip HTML from a given text

Parse HTML in an inert document and return its text.

JavaScriptBrowser · DOM Version 1.0.0 · MIT · .md

function stripHtml(html) { return new DOMParser().parseFromString(html, 'text/html').body.textContent ?? ''; }

Usage

stripHtml('<p>Your order <strong>8812</strong> has shipped.</p>'); // → 'Your order 8812 has shipped.'
stripHtml('<img src=x onerror="steal()">Hi'); // → 'Hi'

Lines marked → were executed in headless Chromium against the markup above, and each result was compared with the value shown. Lines marked e.g. are illustrative.

Know the limits

• DOMParser builds an inert document: scripts do not run and images do not load, so the second line is safe. The result is text; never insert the original HTML into the page.
• textContent drops link addresses and paragraph breaks. That suits previews and search snippets; for an email’s text/plain alternative, use an HTML-to-text converter that keeps URLs and line breaks.
• Browser only. In Node.js, use an HTML parser library.

The function above is the code the usage lines run. It does not validate its arguments; add checks where it receives untrusted input.

Keep exploring

• Check if a given DOMRect is contained within another DOMRect — True when the target lies inside the container or on its edges.
• Check if two DOMRects intersect — Two rects intersect when they meet on both axes.
• Compare two DOMRects for size and position match — Compare x, y, width and height exactly.