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Regex to match HTML tags

Use /<\/?[A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9-]*(?:\s[^<>]*)?\/?>/g to find every match in a text. Every example below is tested against the pattern, and you can open it in the Regex Tester with the samples preloaded.

Updated 

/<\/?[A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9-]*(?:\s[^<>]*)?\/?>/g
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Sample text

<p class="intro">Hello <strong>world</strong><br/></p><my-card id="x"></my-card>

7 matches

<p class="intro"> <strong> </strong> <br/> </p> <my-card id="x"> </my-card>

How the pattern works

PartMeaning
<Opening angle bracket
\/?Optional slash for closing tags
[A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9-]*Tag name, including custom elements like my-card
(?:\s[^<>]*)?Optional attributes
\/?>Optional self-closing slash and the closing bracket

Code examples

JavaScript

const matches = text.match(/<\/?[A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9-]*(?:\s[^<>]*)?\/?>/g) ?? [];

Python

import re

matches = re.findall(r'</?[A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9-]*(?:\s[^<>]*)?/?>', text)

PHP

preg_match_all('/<\/?[A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9-]*(?:\s[^<>]*)?\/?>/', $text, $m);
$matches = $m[0];

Notes and limitations

Fine for quick searches and highlighting, but regex can’t parse HTML reliably (comments, scripts, attributes containing >). Use DOMParser or a real parser for anything important. To strip tags and keep the text, see remove HTML tags with regex.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the regex to match HTML tags?
/<\/?[A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9-]*(?:\s[^<>]*)?\/?>/g — it finds every match in a text. See the table above for what each part does.
Does it work in Python and PHP?
Yes — the code examples above use the same pattern with re in Python and preg functions in PHP.
How do I test this regex?
Click “Open in Regex Tester” — the pattern, flags and sample text load automatically, and matches highlight as you edit.