What are self-closing tags?

Difficulty: 2/10

void elements, HTML parsing, XHTML compatibility

Self-Closing Tags in HTML

Self-closing tags (also called void elements) are HTML elements that do not have any content or closing tag. They only consist of a single opening tag and are used for elements where no inner content is needed, such as images or line breaks.

Examples of Self-Closing Tags

Common Self-Closing Tags

1
<img> – for images
2
<br> – for line breaks
3<hr> – for horizontal rules
4
<input> – for form inputs
5
<meta> – for metadata
6<link> – for linking external resources
7

Scenario Questions

0-2 years experience

1You're adding an image to a simple HTML page. How would you write the <img> tag, and why can you omit a closing tag?
2If you write <br></br> in an HTML5 document, what will the browser render and why?
3When converting a static HTML snippet to a React component, how do you represent tags like <input> that are self‑closing?

Follow-up Questions

Can you name a few tags that are always self‑closing?
What would the browser do if you placed inner text inside a void element?
How does the trailing slash change the behavior in HTML5 versus XHTML?