Use the <textarea> tag to show a text area. The HTML <textarea> tag is used within a form to declare a textarea element - a control that allows the user to input text over multiple rows.
The following are the attributes −
| Attribute | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
autofocus  | Autofocus | Specifies that on page load the text area should automatically get focus. |
| cols | Number | Specifies the width of the textarea based on the number of visible character widths. |
| disabled | Disabled | Specifies the width of the textarea based on the number of visible character widths. |
form  | form_id | Specifies one or more forms. |
maxlength  | Number | Specifies the maximum number of characters in textarea. |
| name | Text | Assigns a name to the input control. |
placeholder  | Text | Specifies a short hint of the value in textarea. |
| readonly | Readonly | Sets the input control to read-only. It won't allow the user to change the value. The control, however, can receive focus and are included when tabbing through the form controls. |
required  | Required | Specifies that a textarea is required. |
| rows | Number | Specifies the height of the textarea based on the number of visible lines of text. If there's more text than this allows, users can scroll using the textarea's scrollbars. |
wrap  | hard soft | Specifies the text to be wrapped in textarea. |
Example
You can try to run the following code to display a text area in HTML −
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>HTML textarea Tag</title> </head> <body> <form action = "/cgi-bin/hello_get.cgi" method = "get"> Enter subjects <br /> <textarea rows = "5" cols = "50" name = "description"> </textarea> <input type = "submit" value = "submit" /> </form> </body> </html>