# HTML DOM getElementsByClassName() Method
[ Element Object](#)
## Example
Modify the text of the first item (index 0) with class="child" in the list with class="example":
var list = document.getElementsByClassName("example");
list.getElementsByClassName("child").innerHTML = "Milk";
Before modifying the text:
* Coffee
* Tea
After modifying the text:
* Milk
* Tea
[Try it »](#)
* * *
## Definition and Usage
The getElementsByClassName() method returns a collection of all elements in the document with the specified class names, as a NodeList object.
The NodeList object represents an ordered list of nodes. The NodeList object allows us to access nodes in the list by their index number (starting from 0).
**Tip:** You can use the (#) property of the NodeList object to determine the number of elements with the specified class name, and loop through all elements to get the one you need.
* * *
## Browser Support
The numbers in the table specify the first browser version that fully supports the method.
| Method | | | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| getElementsByClassName() | 4.0 | 9.0 | 3.0 | 3.1 | 9.5 |
* * *
## Syntax
_element_.getElementsByClassName(_classname_)
## Parameter Values
| Parameter | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| _classname_ | String | Required. The class name of the elements you want to find. Multiple class names are separated by spaces, like "test demo". |
## Technical Details
| DOM Version: | Core Level 1 Element Object |
| --- |
| Return Value: | A NodeList object representing a collection of elements with the specified class names. The elements in the collection are ordered by their appearance in the code. |
* * *
## More Examples
## Example
Change the background color of the second element with class="child" inside the
element:
var x = document.getElementById("myDIV");
x.getElementsByClassName("child").style.backgroundColor = "red";
[Try it »](#)
## Example
Find out how many elements with class="child" are inside the
element (using the length property of the NodeList):
var x = document.getElementById("myDIV").getElementsByClassName("child").length;
The output of _x_ will be:
3
[Try it »](#)
## Example
Change the background color of the first element with both class names "child" and "color" inside the element with class="example":
var x = document.getElementsByClassName("example");
x.getElementsByClassName("child color"
YouTip