Cannot read property 'getElementsByTagName' of Null in JS

Cannot read property 'getElementsByTagName' of Null #

The "Cannot read property 'getElementsByTagName' of null" error occurs for 2 reasons:

Calling the getElementsByTagName() method on a null value (DOM element that doesn't exist).
Inserting the JS script tag above the HTML where the DOM elements are declared.

cannot read property getelementsbytagname of null

Here is an example of how the error occurs.

index.js

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const el = null;

// ⛔️ Cannot read properties of null (reading 'getElementsByTagName')
el.getElementsByTagName();

To solve the "Cannot read property 'getElementsByTagName' of null" error, make sure you're using the correct id when getting the DOM element. The error often occurs after providing an invalid id to the getElementById method.

index.js

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const el = document.getElementById('does-not-exist');
console.log(el); // 👉️ null

// ⛔️ Cannot read properties of null (reading 'getElementsByTagName')
const divs = el.getElementsByTagName('div');

We passed an id that doesn't exist to the getElementById method, so we got a null value back.

Trying to call the getElementsByTagName() method on a null value causes the error.

To solve the "Cannot read property 'getElementsByTagName' of null" error, place the JS script tag at the bottom of the body tag, after the DOM elements have been declared.

index.html

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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
  </head>
  <body>
    <!-- ⛔️ BAD - script runs before div exists ⛔️ -->
    <script src="index.js"></script>

    <div id="box">
      <div>Content 1</div>
      <div>Content 2</div>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

Notice that the JS script is placed above the div element. The script is ran before the div element is created, therefore you can't access the div in the index.js file.

index.js

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const el = document.getElementById('box');
console.log(el); // 👉️ null

// ⛔️ Cannot read properties of null (reading 'getElementsByTagName')
const divs = el.getElementsByTagName('div');

Instead move the JS script tag to the bottom of the body, after the DOM elements it tries to access.

index.html

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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
  </head>
  <body>
    <div id="box">
      <div>Content 1</div>
      <div>Content 2</div>
    </div>

    <!-- ✅ GOOD - div already exists ✅ -->
    <script src="index.js"></script>
  </body>
</html>

Now we can access the div inside the index.js file.

index.js

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const el = document.getElementById('box');
console.log(el); // 👉️ div#box

// ✅ Works
const divs = el.getElementsByTagName('div');
console.log(divs); // HTMLCollection

Conclusion #

The "Cannot read property 'getElementsByTagName' of null" error occurs when trying to call the getElementsByTagName method on a null value.

To solve the error, run the JS script after the DOM elements are available and make sure you only call the method on valid DOM elements.

Cannot read property 'getElementsByTagName' of Null in JS

Cannot read property 'getElementsByTagName' of Null #

Conclusion #

Borislav Hadzhiev