Inspect Element in Chrome and Other Browsers

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Inspecting elements in Chrome and other browsers is a powerful tool for web developers and designers.

To access the Inspect Element feature in Chrome, press F12 or right-click on the page and select Inspect.

This will open the Developer Tools panel, where you can select an element and see its HTML code, CSS styles, and other properties.

The Inspect Element feature is also available in other browsers, including Firefox and Edge, with slightly different keyboard shortcuts.

Opening Developer Tools

To open developer tools, you can use various methods. You can click the three-dot icon in the top right corner of the browser window and select More Tools > Developer Tools. Alternatively, you can use the shortcut control-shift-C on Windows or command-option-C on macOS.

There are several ways to access the developer tools panel in Chrome. You can click the "Customise and control Google Chrome" button on the upper right side of the browser screen and then select More tools->Developer Tools. You can also use the keyboard shortcut "Ctrl + Shift + i" or "Ctrl + Shift + c" on Windows Operating System.

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In Firefox, you can right-click any part of the page and choose Inspect Element. You can also select Tools → Browser Tools → Web Developer Tools from the top menu bar or use the shortcut control-shift-I or press f12 in Windows or command-option-I in macOS.

Here are the different ways to open developer tools in various browsers:

You can also open the developer tools panel by clicking the "Customise and control Google Chrome" button and then selecting More tools->Developer Tools.

Using DevTools

You can access the Chrome DevTools Panel by right-clicking anywhere on the webpage and clicking Inspect. This is one of the three ways to access the Inspect Element tool in Google Chrome.

The Chrome DevTools Panel provides a feature called the "DevTools Panel" or "Element Panel" that allows you to inspect elements and modify them from the front-end for debugging purposes. You can also alter the appearance and contents of the web page by editing CSS and HTML files at runtime.

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To access the DevTools Panel, you can also click the hamburger menu on the far-right of your Google Chrome toolbar, click More Tools, then select Developer Tools. Alternatively, you can press command + option + I on a Mac, or Ctrl + Shift + Con a PC to open Inspect Element without clicking anything.

The DevTools Panel has several panels, including the DOM panel, Console panel, and CSS panel. The DOM panel is the upper part of the box under the Elements, where you can change the HTML page layout and modify files freely.

You can also use the "find" tool in the DOM panel to locate web elements depending on specified criteria. To do this, press "Ctrl + f" and open a find bar, where you can enter the search criteria.

Here are the different ways to access the DevTools Panel:

  • Right-click anywhere on the webpage and click Inspect
  • Click the hamburger menu and select Developer Tools
  • Press command + option + I on a Mac, or Ctrl + Shift + Con a PC

Note that the changes you make using the DevTools Panel are only visible to you, not to anyone else across the web.

Inspecting the Page

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To inspect a page, you can use the Chrome DevTools Panel, which provides a feature called "DevTools Panel" or "Element Panel". This panel allows you to inspect elements and modify them from the front-end for debugging purposes.

You can access the elements panel in Google Chrome developer tools by using the DOM panel, Console panel, or CSS panel. The DOM panel is the upper part of the box under the Elements, and it's a tool that allows you to change the HTML page layout.

There are various ways to inspect/highlight elements using Chrome Developer Tools. You can use the "Select element" button in the top left corner of the DOM panel to select an element and highlight it on the page.

To locate an element by a string, you can use the "find" tool in the DOM panel. You can specify a string to search for an element, and the tool will highlight all the entries with the value you specified.

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You can also specify XPath as a search string to the "find" tool. When you give a valid XPath, the find tool searches the appropriate node for you. You can also retrieve XPath for a particular element using the Copy option.

To inspect elements in Firefox, you can use the Firefox's inspector panel, which is comparable in features to Chrome's and Safari's. The HTML source code indicates the corresponding page element with color codes.

There are three ways to open Web Inspector in Safari: by right-clicking on the page, by selecting Develop > Enter Responsive Design Mode, or by using keyboard shortcuts.

In Chrome, you can open the Inspect Element tool by right-clicking anywhere on the webpage, by clicking the hamburger menu and selecting Developer Tools, or by using keyboard shortcuts. Once you open the Developer Tools pane, you can change the orientation of the Inspect Element pane by clicking the three vertical dots on the top-right side of the pane.

Edit as Desired

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Editing web pages is a breeze with the inspect element tool. You can edit an element's text by picking out some text content in the source code and right-clicking on it to choose Edit Text. This opens an inline text input where you can write whatever you want.

To make changes to the page's CSS code, navigate to the Styles tab in the Chrome inspect panel. Here, you can click on lines of code to rewrite them or activate/deactivate certain declarations by checking or unchecking boxes next to them.

You can modify or delete page elements by selecting their code in the inspector and either double-clicking to change the text, right-clicking and choosing Edit as HTML, or clicking the Plus Button next to the "Search HTML" bar to add code.

Changing text on a webpage is easy too. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Click the icon of a mouse cursor on a square in the top-left corner of the pane.
  2. Click any text on the page, which will correspond with a blue highlight over the related code.
  3. Double-click the highlighted text in the Developer Tools pane to turn it into an editable text field.
  4. Type anything you want in this text field and press Enter.

By following these simple steps, you can edit web pages to your heart's content.

Browser-Specific Tools

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You can access the Inspect Element tool through the browser's developer tools, and the process is similar across Chrome and Safari. For Chrome, you can use the Inspect Element feature directly from the browser.

In Safari, you need to enable the developer capabilities first by going to Preferences > Advanced and checking the box to show the Develop menu in the menu bar. Once enabled, you can right-click on any page element and select Inspect Element to open the Elements pane.

To view a page in a mobile viewport in Safari, you can use the Develop > Enter Responsive Design Mode option. This allows you to use the inspector tools on pages formatted for Apple devices or set the dimensions yourself.

The Elements pane in Safari can be docked to the right or left side of the window, or detached into a separate window. To make the pane wider or narrower, simply hover over the edge until the cursor changes to a dragger, then drag to move the edge.

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Here are the steps to access the Inspect Element tool in Safari:

  1. Click the Safari dropdown in the top navigation bar above the Safari window, and then click Preferences.
  2. Navigate to Advanced, and check the box at the bottom of the window by Show Develop menu in the menu bar.
  3. Close the window, and now you should be able to right-click anywhere on the page and click Inspect Element to open the Elements pane.
  4. The pane should appear along the bottom of your window.

Tips and Hacks

Inspecting elements is a crucial skill for any web developer. You can use coding to convention to write more efficient code.

Being browser-friendly is also essential, as it ensures your website looks great across different browsers and devices. This is especially important for mobile screens.

Minimizing bugs is a key aspect of coding, and it's great that experts share tangible tips and coding templates to help with this.

Here are some tips to get you started:

  • Coding to convention
  • Being browser-friendly
  • Minimizing bugs
  • Optimizing performance

Choosing to dock to the right makes it easier to view the rendered page and its source.

Open Panel

To open the Inspect Element panel, you have several options. You can right-click any part of the page and choose Inspect, or select View > Developer > Developer Tools from the top menu bar.

You can also click the three-dot icon in the top right corner of the browser window, then choose More Tools > Developer Tools. Alternatively, you can use the shortcut control-shift-C on Windows or command-option-C on macOS.

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The Inspect Element panel can be accessed in multiple ways, including right-clicking on a page element, using the top menu bar, or a keyboard shortcut.

Here are the detailed steps to open the Inspect Element panel:

• Right-click on any part of the page and choose Inspect.

• Select View > Developer > Developer Tools from the top menu bar.

• Click the three-dot icon in the top right corner of the browser window and choose More Tools > Developer Tools.

• Use the shortcut control-shift-C on Windows or command-option-C on macOS.

Once you access the Inspect Element panel, you'll see tabs for Elements, Console, Sources, and more.

Changing Styles and Content

Changing styles is a breeze with the Inspect Element tool. To toggle the CSS styling of an element, simply use the Filter Styles region at the bottom of the inspect panel and uncheck the box next to a CSS declaration.

You can also change individual styles by double-clicking on the value of a property in the right-hand panel. For example, changing the background-image property to a new linear gradient is as simple as typing in the new values and hitting ENTER.

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Want to see how an element will look in different states? Inspect Element can show you how a button or link will look once someone interacts with it. You can force the element to show its hover state, focus state, and visited state by right-clicking on the code in the Elements tab and clicking the corresponding option.

Here are the steps to change an element's state:

  1. Right-click on the code in the Elements tab and hover over Force state.
  2. Click the :active: option, then click it again and select the :hover: option.
  3. Change the "background-color" value to a new color, and instantly see what the new hover color will look like.

Experiment with different hover colors and see how they look in real-time. Uncheck the :hover: option and drag your mouse over the button to see the new button color.

Emulating Devices and States

Emulation is a powerful tool that lets you see how your website will look on different devices, browsers, and locations. You can approximate how websites will look to users across various devices by clicking the little phone icon in the top-left corner of the Developer Tools pane.

In the Emulation mode, you can change the device preset to "Responsive" to see how the webpage will change as the screen size changes. This is a great way to put yourself in your user's shoes and consider what the user may be seeing on your webpage.

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To test a site on any device, you can select a default device size like iPhone 12 Pro, and the webpage screen will shrink down to the device's size. You can also zoom in a bit by clicking the percentage dropdown next to the dimensions.

You can also change your user agent by unchecking Use browser default in the User agent field and selecting Firefox — Mac, to see if the site changes its rendering for other browsers on different devices.

Change States

In the Elements tab, you can change the state of an element by right-clicking on it and selecting the desired state from the Force state menu. This allows you to see how the element will look in different situations.

For example, if you want to see how a button will look when someone hovers over it, you can select the :hover: option from the Force state menu. This will change the button's background color to black, which is what happens when you hover over the button on the live site.

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You can instantly see the effects of changing the :hover: color by updating the "background-color" value. Try changing the value to #ff4a00 and see how the button's hover color changes.

To experiment further, you can uncheck the :hover: option and drag your mouse over the button to see the new button color. This is a great way to test how different states will affect your design.

Emulate Any Device

Everything has to be responsive today, so you should always keep in mind how websites will look on various devices and screens.

Emulation is a great tool to approximate how websites will look to users across devices, browsers, and locations.

In the Developer Tools pane, you'll notice a little phone icon in the top-left corner. Click it to change the page into a tiny, phone-styled page with a menu at the top to change the size.

You can resize the small browser to see how things would look if you were browsing on a tablet, phone, or even smaller screen.

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Selecting the iPhone 12 Pro device preset will shrink down the webpage screen to its size, and you can zoom in a bit by clicking the percentage dropdown next to the dimensions.

Dragging the right edge of the webpage emulation allows you to enlarge the view and see how the webpage will change as the screen size changes.

You can even toggle portrait and landscape views by clicking the little rotation icon at the end of the top menu.

Emulation is a great way to put yourself in your user's shoes and consider what the user may be seeing on your webpage.

Changing your user agent by unchecking Use browser default and selecting Firefox — Mac can also help you see if the site changes its rendering for other browsers on different devices.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why can't I inspect on my school Chromebook?

Inspect element may be blocked on school-managed Chromebooks. Ask your administrator for permission to proceed

How do I open Inspect Element in Windows 10?

To open Inspect Element in Windows 10, press Control + Shift + C. This shortcut key combination quickly accesses the Chrome browser's developer tools.

How to enable Inspect Element in Safari?

To enable Inspect Element in Safari, go to the Develop menu and choose Show Web Inspector (⌥⌘I) or right-click on the webpage and select Inspect Element. This will allow you to inspect and debug web pages with ease.

How to enable Inspect Element on school Chromebook?

Unfortunately, some schools may disable Inspect Element on Chromebooks. Check with your school's IT department to see if they can enable it for you

How do I open the inspector in Chrome?

To open the Chrome inspector, press F12 or right-click on a web page and select "Inspect". This will launch the Chrome Web Inspector and Debugger, a powerful tool for web development and debugging.

Jeannie Larson

Senior Assigning Editor

Jeannie Larson is a seasoned Assigning Editor with a keen eye for compelling content. With a passion for storytelling, she has curated articles on a wide range of topics, from technology to lifestyle. Jeannie's expertise lies in assigning and editing articles that resonate with diverse audiences.

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