Add a class to the Body element using TypeScript

Add a class to the Body element using TypeScript #

To add a class to the body element in TypeScript, call the classList.add() method on the body object, e.g. document.body.classList.add('my-class'). The add() method adds one or more classes to the list, omitting any that are already present.

Here is the HTML for the examples in this article.

index.html

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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />

    <style>
      .salmon {
        background-color: salmon;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div>Hello world</div>

    <script src="./src/index.ts"></script>
  </body>
</html>

And here is the related TypeScript code.

src/index.ts

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// ✅ Add class to body element
document.body.classList.add('salmon');

// ✅ Remove class from body element
// document.body.classList.remove('salmon');

We used the classList.add() method to add a class on the body object.

We can access the body element on the document object.

If the class is already present on the body element, it won't get added twice.

You can pass as many classes to the add() method as necessary.

src/index.ts

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// ✅ Add class to body element
document.body.classList.add(
  'salmon',
  'second-class',
  'third-class'
);

// ✅ Remove class from body element
// document.body.classList.remove('salmon');

Similarly, if you need to remove one or more classes, you can use the remove() method.

src/index.ts

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// ✅ Add class to body element
document.body.classList.add(
  'salmon',
  'second-class',
  'third-class'
);

// ✅ Remove class from body element
document.body.classList.remove(
  'salmon',
  'third-class'
);

If any of the classes is not present on the element, the remove() method ignores the class and does not throw an error.

You might have seen examples online that reassign the className property on the body element.

src/index.ts

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document.body.className += 'salmon';

This approach works, however when using it we don't take advantage of some of the built in functionality the classList.add() method provides.

src/index.ts

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document.body.className += 'salmon';
document.body.className += 'salmon';

The code snippet above adds the class twice because there isn't any check in place to only add the class if it's not already present on the element.

This would lead to very confusing behavior if you have to toggle a class or remove it.

You can also add a class to the body element when an event occurs, e.g. a button is clicked.

Here is the HTML for the next example.

index.html

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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />

    <style>
      .salmon {
        background-color: salmon;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div>Hello world</div>

    <button id="btn">Click me</button>

    <script src="./src/index.ts"></script>
  </body>
</html>

And here is the related JavaScript code.

src/index.ts

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const btn = document.getElementById('btn');

btn?.addEventListener('click', function onClick() {
  if (document.body.classList.contains('salmon')) {
    document.body.classList.remove('salmon');
  } else {
    document.body.classList.add('salmon');
  }
});

We added a click event listener to the button element.

Each time the button is clicked the onClick function is invoked.

Our if condition checks whether the salmon class is contained on the body element and removes it if it is, otherwise the class is added to the body element.

Add a class to the Body element using TypeScript

Add a class to the Body element using TypeScript #

Borislav Hadzhiev