HTML <del> element

The <del> element represents text or content that has been deleted from the document. The deleted material is still visible in the markup, but its meaning is that it no longer belongs to the current version.

This is useful for corrections, revision history, changed requirements, withdrawn statements, and comparison views. It records a document edit. By comparison, <s> marks information that is no longer accurate or relevant, such as an outdated offer, without necessarily recording an edit.

The optional datetime attribute records the date of the deletion, such as 2026-06-25, or a date and time with an offset, such as 2026-06-25T14:30+02:00. The optional cite attribute supplies a URL explaining the edit. It does not produce a visible citation or link by itself.

A deletion can mark words inside a <p> or whole paragraphs where the surrounding structure permits them. Use separate edit elements when marking parts of different paragraphs. Within an <ol> or <ul>, put <del> inside the relevant <li>, rather than wrapping list items directly beneath the list.

It is often used beside <ins>. The old wording can be marked with <del>, and the replacement wording can be marked with <ins>. This lets the reader see the edit instead of simply being shown the final result.

The example records a wording correction from Tuesday to Thursday. The deleted word remains in the document and is normally displayed with a line through it. Marking content with <del> does not erase it from the source or prevent readers from accessing it.

Attributes: cite, datetime, GLOBALS.

Typical layout:
<p>The workshop is on
  <del datetime="2026-06-25">Tuesday</del>
  <ins datetime="2026-06-25">Thursday</ins>.
</p>

Visual representation: