<main>

Summary

The HTML <main> element represents the main content of the <body> of a document or application. The main content area consists of content that is directly related to, or expands upon the central topic of a document or the central functionality of an application. This content should be unique to the document, excluding any content that is repeated across a set of documents such as sidebars, navigation links, copyright information, site logos, and search forms (unless, of course, the document's main function is as a search form).

Note: <main> must not be a descendent of an <article>, <aside>, <footer>, <header>, or <nav> element.

There is no restriction as to the number of <main> elements in a document. Indeed, there are many cases where it would make sense to have multiple <main> elements. For example, a page with multiple <article> elements might need to indicate the dominant contents of each such element.

Content categoriesFlow content, palpable content.
Permitted content Flow content.
Tag omission None; both the starting and ending tags are mandatory.
Permitted parent elements Any element that accepts flow content, but may not be a descendent of an <article>, <aside>, <footer>, <header>, or <nav> element.
DOM interface HTMLElement

Attributes

This element only includes the global attributes.

Example

<!-- other content -->

<main>
  <h1>Apples</h1>
  <p>The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree.</p>
  
  <article>
    <h2>Red Delicious</h2>
    <p>These bright red apples are the most common found in many
    supermarkets.</p>
    <p>... </p>
    <p>... </p>
  </article>

  <article>
    <h2>Granny Smith</h2>
    <p>These juicy, green apples make a great filling for
    apple pies.</p>
    <p>... </p>
    <p>... </p>
  </article>

</main>

<!-- other content -->

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
WHATWG HTML Living Standard The definition of '<main>' in that specification.	Living Standard	Removed the restriction about not using `<main>` as a descendent of an `<article>`, `<aside>`, `<footer>`, `<header>`, or `<nav>` element.
HTML5.1 The definition of '<main>' in that specification.	Working Draft	No change from HTML5
HTML5 The definition of '<main>' in that specification.	Proposed Recommendation	Initial definition.

Browser compatibility

As a newly-proposed feature of HTML, the <main> element is not yet supported widely. You are strongly urged to add the "main" ARIA role to any <main> element:

<main role="main">
  ...
</main>

Help improve compatibility tables by filling out this 11 question survey.

Desktop
Mobile

Feature	Chrome	Firefox (Gecko)	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari (WebKit)
Basic support	Chrome 26	21.0 (21.0)	Not supported	Opera 16	Safari 7

Feature	Android	Firefox Mobile (Gecko)	IE Phone	Opera Mobile	Safari Mobile
Basic support	Not supported	21.0 (21.0)	Not supported	Not supported	Not supported