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<footer>

The <footer> element represents a footer for its nearest ancestor sectioning content or sectioning root element. A footer typically contains information about the author, copyright data, links to related documents, or other metadata about the section it belongs to. Despite its name, a footer doesn't have to appear at the bottom of a page or section.

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Syntax | Attributes | Examples | When to Use | Related Elements

This page was last updated on 2025-11-17

Syntax

<footer>
<p>Copyright © 2024 Company Name</p>
</footer>

The element requires both opening and closing tags. A footer can contain any flow content, but it cannot contain another footer element or a header element. Multiple footer elements can exist in a single document, each belonging to different sectioning elements.

Attributes

Global attributes - The <footer> element supports all global attributes such as id, class, style, lang, and dir.

The <footer> element has no element-specific attributes.

Examples

Page Footer

<footer>
  <p>© 2024 Your Company. All rights reserved.</p>
  <nav>
    <a href="/privacy">Privacy Policy</a> |
    <a href="/terms">Terms of Service</a> |
    <a href="/contact">Contact Us</a>
  </nav>
</footer>

Article Footer

<article>
  <h2>Article Title</h2>
  <p>Article content...</p>
  <footer>
    <p>Written by <a href="/author/jane">Jane Doe</a></p>
    <p>Published: <time datetime="2024-03-15">March 15, 2024</time></p>
    <p>Tags: HTML, Semantics, Web Development</p>
  </footer>
</article>

Section Footer with Contact Info

<section>
  <h2>Our Services</h2>
  <p>We offer a wide range of services...</p>
  <footer>
    <address>
      Contact us at <a href="mailto:info@example.com">info@example.com</a>
    </address>
  </footer>
</section>

When to Use

Use the <footer> element when:

Adding copyright information to a page or section
Including author information at the end of an article
Providing metadata like publication date, tags, or categories
Adding links to related documents or terms of service
Including contact information using the address element
Adding social media links at the end of content

Do NOT use <footer> when:

You need to add a header (use <header> instead)
You want to nest footers inside each other (not allowed)
The content is the main focus of the section (that belongs in the main content area)

Important: The footer element is not limited to page footers. An article, section, or any other sectioning element can have its own footer containing information specific to that section.