You might see <head> Element reference while reading someone else’s HTML, or need it while building a page of your own. Instead of memorizing a definition, look at a working example and see when the element makes sense.
The Idea in Plain English
Contains document metadata such as the title, character encoding, viewport and stylesheet links. It is not where visible headings belong.
For a reference page, pay attention to where the element is allowed, whether it needs a closing tag, and what other elements it can contain.
A Working Example
Read the sample once before copying it. Notice the element names and attribute values, then compare them with the explanation below.
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>My Study Notes</title>
</head>What Each Part Does
- The head holds page metadata, not the visible lesson content.
- The meta element supplies machine-readable settings; its name or charset decides which setting.
- The title gives the document a name in tabs and other browser surfaces.
- charset identifies the character encoding used by the document.
- name identifies a field in submitted form data or a named metadata entry.
- content supplies the value of a meta declaration.
The browser uses these settings while rendering the document.
Try It Yourself
Try replacing the example content with your own while keeping the valid HTML structure.
Common Beginner Mistakes
- Putting an h1 inside head.
- Changing several parts of the example at once, making it difficult to see which part caused a different result.
- Choosing a tag only because its default appearance looks right, without checking whether it describes the content correctly.
Key Takeaways
- Contains document metadata such as the title, character encoding, viewport and stylesheet links. It is not where visible headings belong.
- The browser uses these settings while rendering the document.
- Test the markup in a browser, and check accessibility and real-world behavior where relevant.