caret

A caret (sometimes called a "text cursor") is an indicator displayed on the screen to indicate where text input will be inserted.

Most user interfaces represent the caret using a thin vertical line or a character-sized box that flashes, but this can vary. This point in the text is called the insertion point. The word "caret" differentiates the text insertion point from the mouse cursor.

On the web, a caret is used to represent the insertion point in <input> and <textarea> elements, as well as any elements whose contenteditable attribute is set, thereby allowing the contents of the element to be edited by the user.

See also

You can set the color of the caret for a given element's editable content by setting the element's CSS caret-color property to the appropriate <color> value.

HTML elements that may present a caret

These elements provide text entry fields or boxes and therefore make use of the caret.