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Syntax

turndownService.remove(filter)

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Description

Determines which HTML elements should be completely removed from the output (converted to an empty string). Both the element and its contents are removed. By default, Turndown does not remove any elements.

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Parameters

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filter
string | array | function
required
Specifies which elements to remove:
  • String: A single tag name (e.g., 'del')
  • Array: Multiple tag names (e.g., ['script', 'style'])
  • Function: Custom filter function (node, options) => boolean

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Returns

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instance
TurndownService
Returns the TurndownService instance for method chaining

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Examples

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Remove Single Element

turndownService.remove('del')
turndownService.turndown('<p>Hello <del>world</del><ins>World</ins></p>')
// Result: Hello World

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Remove Multiple Elements

turndownService.remove(['script', 'style', 'noscript'])
turndownService.turndown(`
  <style>body { color: red; }</style>
  <p>Hello World</p>
  <script>alert('test')</script>
`)
// Result: Hello World

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Remove with Custom Filter

turndownService.remove(function (node) {
  return node.nodeName === 'DIV' && node.getAttribute('class') === 'ad'
})

turndownService.turndown(`
  <div>Keep this</div>
  <div class="ad">Remove this ad</div>
  <p>Content</p>
`)
// Result:
// Keep this
//
// Content

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Remove Comments or Metadata

turndownService.remove(['meta', 'link', 'script', 'style'])
turndownService.turndown(`
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css">
  <h1>Title</h1>
  <p>Content</p>
`)
// Result:
// # Title
//
// Content

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Chaining Remove Calls

turndownService
  .remove('script')
  .remove('style')
  .remove(function (node) {
    return node.nodeName === 'IMG' && !node.getAttribute('alt')
  })

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Behavior Details

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Element and Contents Removed

Both the element and all its contents are removed: 
turndownService.remove('div')
turndownService.turndown('<p>Before</p><div><strong>Nested</strong> content</div><p>After</p>')
// Result:
// Before
//
// After

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Whitespace Handling

Removing elements doesn’t leave extra whitespace: 
turndownService.remove('span')
turndownService.turndown('<p>Hello <span>world</span> there</p>')
// Result: Hello  there

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Notes

  • Returns the instance to enable method chaining
  • Can be called multiple times; newer filters take precedence
  • Remove filters are overridden by keep filters, CommonMark rules, and added rules
  • To remove elements normally handled by those rules, add a custom rule instead
  • Removes both the element tags and all content inside them
  • Use keep() if you want to preserve the HTML but not convert it

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