Document: importNode() method

The Document object's importNode() method creates a copy of a Node or DocumentFragment from another document, to be inserted into the current document later.

The imported node is not yet included in the document tree. To include it, you need to call an insertion method such as appendChild() or insertBefore() with a node that is currently in the document tree.

Unlike document.adoptNode(), the original node is not removed from its original document. The imported node is a clone of the original.

Syntax

importNode(externalNode)
importNode(externalNode, deep)

Parameters

externalNode

The external Node or DocumentFragment to import into the current document.

deep Optional

A boolean flag, whose default value is false, which controls whether to include the entire DOM subtree of the externalNode in the import.

• If deep is set to true, then externalNode and all of its descendants are copied.
• If deep is set to false, then only externalNode is imported — the new node has no children.

Return value

The copied importedNode in the scope of the importing document.

Examples

const iframe = document.querySelector("iframe");
const oldNode = iframe.contentWindow.document.getElementById("myNode");
const newNode = document.importNode(oldNode, true);
document.getElementById("container").appendChild(newNode);

Notes

Before they can be inserted into the current document, nodes from external documents should either be:

• cloned using document.importNode(); or
• adopted using document.adoptNode().

For more on the Node.ownerDocument issues, see the W3C DOM FAQ.

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• document.adoptNode(), which behaves very similar to this method
• Node.appendChild()
• Node.insertBefore()