HTML - cols Attribute

The HTML cols attribute is used to set or specify the visible width of a text area element. If it is used within a textarea element.

If we haven't specified any value for the cols attribute, it will automatically consider the default value which is 20. Instead of the cols attribute, we can use the CSS width property to set the visible width of this element.

The cols attribute works with both <textarea> and <frameset> tags, Since the <frameset> tag is not supported in HTML5, we will use it with <textarea> only.

Syntax

<textarea cols = "value"></textarea>

Applies On

Below listed elements allow using of the HTML cols attribute

Element	Description
<textarea>	HTML <textarea> tag is used to input multi line text.
<frameset>	HTML <frameset> tag is used to specify the number of rows and columns in frameset with their pixels.

Examples of HTML cols Attribute

Following codes demonstatre usages of cols attribute

Cols attribute with specified width

In the following example, we are using the HTML ‘cols’ attribute within the textarea field to specify the visible width of this element.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">

<head>
   <title>HTML 'cols' attribute</title>
</head>

<body>
   <!--HTML 'cols' attribute-->
   <p>Example of the HTML 'cols' attribute</p>
   <form>
      <label>Message: </label>
      <br>
      <textarea 
         cols="30" 
         rows="10" 
         placeholder="Write your message...">
      </textarea>
      <br>
      <button>Submit</button>
   </form>
</body>

</html>

Cols attribute with default value

In this example, we are using the ‘cols’ attribute within the textarea element, but we have not assigned any value to it. But it will display with 20 cols value(i.e. default value) on the webpage.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">

<head>
   <title>HTML 'cols' attribute</title>
</head>

<body>
   <!--HTML 'cols' attribute-->
   <p>Example of the HTML 'cols' attribute</p>
   <form>
      <label>Address</label>
      <br>
      <textarea cols="" rows="5"></textarea>
      <br>
      <button>Submit</button>
   </form>
</body>

</html>

Supported Browsers

Attribute
cols	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

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