{"id":274,"date":"2023-08-25T17:22:29","date_gmt":"2023-08-25T17:22:29","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/api.jquery.com\/?p=274"},"modified":"2026-01-20T17:34:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T17:34:39","slug":"first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/api.jquery.com\/first\/","title":{"rendered":".first()"},"content":{"rendered":"<article id=\"first1\" class=\"entry method\"><h2 class=\"section-title\">\n<span class=\"name\">.first()<\/span><span class=\"returns\">Returns: <a href=\"http:\/\/api.jquery.com\/Types\/#jQuery\">jQuery<\/a><\/span>\n<\/h2>\n<div class=\"entry-wrapper\">\n<p class=\"desc\"><strong>Description: <\/strong>Reduce the set of matched elements to the first in the set.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"signatures\"><li class=\"signature\">\n<h4 class=\"name\">\n<span class=\"version-details\">version added: <a href=\"\/category\/version\/1.4\/\">1.4<\/a><\/span><a id=\"first\" href=\"#first\"><span class=\"icon-link\"><\/span>.first()<\/a>\n<\/h4>\n<ul><li><div class=\"null-signature\">This method does not accept any arguments.<\/div><\/li><\/ul>\n<\/li><\/ul>\n<div class=\"longdesc\" id=\"entry-longdesc\">\n    <p>Given a jQuery object that represents a set of DOM elements, the <code>.first()<\/code> method constructs a new jQuery object from the first element in that set.<\/p>\n    <p>Consider a page with a simple list on it:<\/p>\n    <div class=\"syntaxhighlighter xml\">\n\t<table>\n\t\t<tbody>\n\t\t\t<tr>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<td class=\"gutter\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n1\">1<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n2\">2<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n3\">3<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n4\">4<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n5\">5<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n6\">6<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n7\">7<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<td class=\"code\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<pre><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">ul<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">li<\/span>&gt;<\/span>list item 1<span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">li<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">li<\/span>&gt;<\/span>list item 2<span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">li<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">li<\/span>&gt;<\/span>list item 3<span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">li<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">li<\/span>&gt;<\/span>list item 4<span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">li<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">li<\/span>&gt;<\/span>list item 5<span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">li<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">ul<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><\/pre>\n\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t<\/tbody>\n\t<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n    <p>We can apply this method to the set of list items:<\/p>\n    <div class=\"syntaxhighlighter javascript\">\n\t<table>\n\t\t<tbody>\n\t\t\t<tr>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<td class=\"gutter\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n1\">1<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<td class=\"code\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<pre><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>$( <span class=\"hljs-string\">\"li\"<\/span> ).first().css( <span class=\"hljs-string\">\"background-color\"<\/span>, <span class=\"hljs-string\">\"red\"<\/span> );<\/code><\/div><\/div><\/pre>\n\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t<\/tbody>\n\t<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n    <p>The result of this call is a red background for the first item.<\/p>\n  <\/div>\n<section class=\"entry-examples\" id=\"entry-examples\"><header><h2>Example:<\/h2><\/header><div class=\"entry-example\" id=\"example-0\">\n<p>Highlight the first item in a list.<\/p>\n<div class=\"syntaxhighlighter xml\">\n\t<table>\n\t\t<tbody>\n\t\t\t<tr>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<td class=\"gutter\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n1\">1<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n2\">2<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n3\">3<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n4\">4<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n5\">5<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n6\">6<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n7\">7<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n8\">8<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n9\">9<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n10\">10<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n11\">11<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n12\">12<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n13\">13<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n14\">14<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n15\">15<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n16\">16<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n17\">17<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n18\">18<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n19\">19<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n20\">20<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n21\">21<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n22\">22<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n23\">23<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n24\">24<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n25\">25<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n26\">26<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"line n27\">27<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<td class=\"code\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<pre><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-meta\">&lt;!doctype <span class=\"hljs-meta-keyword\">html<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">html<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-attr\">lang<\/span>=<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"en\"<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">head<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">meta<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-attr\">charset<\/span>=<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"utf-8\"<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">title<\/span>&gt;<\/span>first demo<span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">title<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">style<\/span>&gt;<\/span><span class=\"css\"><\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  <span class=\"hljs-selector-class\">.highlight<\/span> {<\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>    <span class=\"hljs-attribute\">background-color<\/span>: yellow;<\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  }<\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">style<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">script<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-attr\">src<\/span>=<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"https:\/\/code.jquery.com\/jquery-4.0.0.js\"<\/span>&gt;<\/span><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">script<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">head<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">body<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code> <\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">ul<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">li<\/span>&gt;<\/span>Look:<span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">li<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">li<\/span>&gt;<\/span>This is some text in a list.<span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">li<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">li<\/span>&gt;<\/span>This is a note about it.<span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">li<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>  <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">li<\/span>&gt;<\/span>This is another note about it.<span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">li<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">ul<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code> <\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">script<\/span>&gt;<\/span><span class=\"javascript\"><\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code>$( <span class=\"hljs-string\">\"ul li\"<\/span> ).first().addClass( <span class=\"hljs-string\">\"highlight\"<\/span> );<\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">script<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code> <\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">body<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"line\"><code><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">html<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/div><\/div><\/pre>\n\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t<\/tbody>\n\t<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n<h4>Demo:<\/h4>\n<div class=\"demo code-demo\"><\/div>\n<\/div><\/section>\n<\/div><\/article>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reduce the set of matched elements to the first in the set.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73,88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-filtering","category-88"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/api.jquery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/api.jquery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/api.jquery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/api.jquery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/api.jquery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/api.jquery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1520,"href":"https:\/\/api.jquery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274\/revisions\/1520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/api.jquery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/api.jquery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/api.jquery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}