HTML <B> Tag

Definition

The <b> tag enables you to make text bold without assigning any extra importance.

Example

<p><b>This is bold</b> and this is not.</p>

Usage

• The <b> element is used where you wish to present text or other content as bold, but without attaching any special important to it.
• If you wish to denote text as being important you should use the <strong> tag, or in the case of headings, a heading tag (<h1>, <h2>, <h3>, <h4>, <h5>, or <h6>).
• Examples of usage include:
  • Highlighting keywords without making them important
  • Making objects bold to highlight them without attaching importance.
  • Highlighting a lead sentence of paragraph in an article.

    <article>
      <h2>Kittens 'adopted' by pet rabbit</h2>
      <p><b class="lead">Six abandoned kittens have found an
      unexpected new mother figure — a pet rabbit.</b></p>
      <p>Veterinary nurse Melanie Humble took the three-week-old
      kittens to her Aberdeen home.</p>
      [...]
      </article>

Attributes

The <b> element only supports the Global Attributes.

Best Practices

• According to the HTML5 Specification, the <b> element should be “used as a last resort when no other element is more appropriate”. For example, heading tags, emphasis (<em>), importance (<strong>) or highlighted text (<mark>).

  Google even uses these elements for ranking purposes.

  For example, the following usage would be incorrect:

  <p><b>WARNING!</b> Do not feed the trolls!</p>

• It is good practice to use a class on the <b> element to more easily style-specific use cases. This will enable you to style a lead paragraph differently from a bolded word should you wish.

• You should not to use the <b> element for styling. Instead, you can use the CSS font-weight:bold; declaration to create bold text.

  <p><span style="font-weight:bold">WARNING!</span> Do not feed the trolls!</p>

Specification

• HTML Living Standard Specification
• HTML5 Specification

Browser Support

Desktop

Mobile