Removing Child Elements With jQuery .empty()

jQuery empty: Main Tips

• The jQuery .empty() method removes all descendant nodes from selected DOM elements.
• All strings of text are also considered child elements and thus removed.
• To remove elements completely, use the .remove() method. To remove them but keep their data and event handlers, use .detach().

Theory is great, but we recommend digging deeper!

Learn jQuery - From Beginner to Advanced

Sandip Bhattacharya

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Usage of jQuery .empty() Explained

The .empty() jQuery method removes the children and nodes of the specified elements. All you need to do is specify a selector to match the target elements:

$(selector).empty();

Check the example with the selector defined as <p> below:

$(document).ready(() => {
	$("button").click(() => {
	    $("p").empty();
	});
});

Note: if you make jQuery remove all children elements, nested elements will be deleted as well.

Differences Between jQuery .empty(), .detach() and .remove()

There are three methods used for removing elements in jQuery: .empty(), .detach() and .remove(). A beginner might find it a bit confusing. You will find the differences of these methods explained in the table below:

Compare the methods in the example below:

$(document).ready(function () {

  $("button.btn-remove").click(function () {
    $("#textbox1").remove();
  });

  $("button.btn-empty").click(function () {
    $("#textbox2").empty();
  });

  $("button.btn-detach").click(function () {
    $("#textbox3").detach();
  });