Web developers, designers, and digital enthusiasts often use the “Inspect Element” tool for debugging and designing web pages.

This guide will walk you through how to inspect an element on Mac, change text, use shortcuts, and inspect on Chrome mobile, Firefox, and with JavaScript.

How To Inspect Element on Mac

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How to Inspect Element on Mac

On a Mac, you can inspect an element on any web page using a web browser’s developer tools. Here’s how you can do it on Chrome and Firefox:

Chrome:

  1. Right-click the element you wish to inspect, then select “Inspect” from the drop-down menu.
  2. The developer tool window will open, highlighting the HTML of the selected element.

Firefox:

  1. Right-click the element you wish to inspect, then select “Inspect Element” from the drop-down menu.
  2. The developer tool window will open, highlighting the HTML of the selected element.

Changing Text Through Inspect Element

Once you’ve opened the developer tools panel, you can modify the web page’s text in real-time. This is an excellent tool for developers to preview changes. Here’s how:

  1. Inspect the element containing the text you want to change.
  2. In the developer tools panel, locate the text within the HTML tags.
  3. Double click the text you want to change, type your new text, and press Enter.

Note: The changes made through inspect element are local and temporary. They disappear once the page is refreshed.

Using the Shortcut for Inspect Element on Mac

For a quicker way to access inspect element, use the following shortcuts:

Chrome:

Press Cmd + Option + I to open the developer tools.

Firefox:

Press Cmd + Option + C to open the developer tools.

Inspecting Elements on Chrome Mobile

Google Chrome for mobile doesn’t support inspect element. However, you can use “Remote Debugging” with Chrome on your Mac to inspect elements on mobile web pages:

  1. Connect your Android device to your Mac via USB.
  2. Open “Developer Options” on your Android and enable “USB Debugging.”
  3. On Chrome on your Mac, navigate to “chrome://inspect.”
  4. Your Android device and its open tabs should appear on the page. Click “Inspect” below the page to inspect.

Inspecting Elements in Firefox

In Firefox, you can inspect an element just as in Chrome:

  1. Right-click on the element you want to inspect.
  2. Click on “Inspect Element.”
  3. The developer tools will open, highlighting the HTML for the selected element.

Using JavaScript for Inspecting Elements

JavaScript allows you to inspect elements by accessing the DOM (Document Object Model). Open the JavaScript console in your developer tools (Cmd + Option + J in Chrome), and use JavaScript commands to inspect and modify elements.

For example, to inspect a specific element by its ID, you can use document.getElementById("id");

Inspecting Tools in Chrome on Mac

To open inspect tools in Chrome on a Mac:

  1. Right-click on an element and select “Inspect,” or
  2. Use the shortcut Cmd + Option + I.

The developer tool window will open with elements, console, sources, network, performance, memory, application, security, and Lighthouse tabs to help you inspect and debug the web page.

In conclusion, understanding how to inspect an element on a Mac is essential for web development and design. By familiarizing yourself with these techniques, you’ll be able to debug, design, and interact with the elements of a webpage more effectively.