Summary

Replaces one child node of the specified element with another.

Syntax

replacedNode = parentNode.replaceChild(newChild, oldChild);

• newChild is the new node to replace oldChild. If it already exists in the DOM, it is first removed.
• oldChild is the existing child to be replaced.
• replacedNode is the replaced node. This is the same node as oldChild.

Example

// <div>
//  <span id="childSpan">foo bar</span>
// </div>

// create an empty element node
// without an ID, any attributes, or any content
var sp1 = document.createElement("span");

// give it an id attribute called 'newSpan'
sp1.setAttribute("id", "newSpan");

// create some content for the new element.
var sp1_content = document.createTextNode("new replacement span element.");

// apply that content to the new element
sp1.appendChild(sp1_content);

// build a reference to the existing node to be replaced
var sp2 = document.getElementById("childSpan");
var parentDiv = sp2.parentNode;

// replace existing node sp2 with the new span element sp1
parentDiv.replaceChild(sp1, sp2);

// result:
// <div>
//   <span id="newSpan">new replacement span element.</span>
// </div> 

Specification

DOM Level 1 Core: replaceChild

DOM Level 2 Core: replaceChild