What is the regex for html self-closing tag?

The regex pattern for html self-closing tag is ` ]*)?\/?>`. This pattern validates self-closing html tags like , , .

How do I use this regex in JavaScript?

In JavaScript, create the regex with `const regex = / ]*)?\\/?>/;` and test with `regex.test(yourValue)`. It returns `true` if the value matches.

How do I use this regex in Python?

In Python, use `import re; re.match(r' ]*)?\/?>', value)`. The raw string prefix (`r`) prevents Python from interpreting backslashes as escape characters.

Is this regex case-sensitive?

This pattern explicitly handles both uppercase and lowercase via the character classes. No additional flags needed.

Regex for HTML Self-Closing Tag

Regex Pattern

<([a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]*)(?:\s+[^>]*)?\/?>

Self-closing HTML tags like <br/>, <img/>, <input/>

Quick Answer

The regex pattern for html self-closing tag is `<([a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]*)(?:\s+[^>]*)?\/?>`. Self-closing HTML tags like <br/>, <img/>, <input/>. This works in JavaScript, Python, Ruby, PHP, Java, and most regex engines that support PCRE syntax.

Test Examples

Input	Result
<br/>	✓ Matches
<img src="x.jpg" />	✓ Matches
<input type="text"/>	✓ Matches
<div>content</div>	✗ No match
not a tag	✗ No match
<>	✗ No match

Code Examples

javascript

const regex = /<([a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]*)(?:\s+[^>]*)?\\/?>/;
const isValid = regex.test(value);

python

import re
pattern = r'<([a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]*)(?:\s+[^>]*)?\/?>'
if re.match(pattern, value):
    print("valid")

ruby

pattern = /<([a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]*)(?:\s+[^>]*)?\/?>/
if value =~ pattern
  puts "valid"
end

php

if (preg_match('/<([a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]*)(?:\s+[^>]*)?\\/?>/', $value)) {
    echo "valid";
}

java

String pattern = "<([a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]*)(?:\\s+[^>]*)?\\/?>";
boolean isValid = value.matches(pattern);

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Regex Patterns

HTML Tag

Any HTML tag (opening, closing, or self-closing)

HTML Comment

HTML comment block (multi-line safe)

HTML Attribute

HTML attribute key-value pair (attr="value")

HTML Entity

HTML character entity (named or numeric)

Semantic HTML5 Tag

HTML5 semantic element tags

XML Namespace

XML namespace declaration (xmlns or xmlns:prefix)