mdn · Josh-Cena · Jul 20, 2025 · Jul 15, 2025 · Jul 15, 2025 · Jul 15, 2025
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ The **`step`** attribute is a number that specifies the granularity that the val
 
 The `step` sets the _stepping interval_ when clicking up and down spinner buttons, moving a slider left and right on a range, and validating the different date types. If not explicitly included, `step` defaults to 1 for `number` and `range`, and 1 unit type (minute, week, month, day) for the date/time input types. The value must be a positive number - integer or float — or the special value `any`, which means no stepping is implied and any value is allowed (barring other constraints, such as [`min`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Attributes/min) and [`max`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Attributes/max)).
 
-The default stepping value for `number` inputs is 1, allowing only integers to be entered, _unless_ the stepping base is not an integer. The default stepping value for `time` is 60 seconds, with 900 being equal to 15 minutes.
+Only values which are a whole number of steps from the step base are valid. The step base is [`min`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Attributes/min) if specified, [`value`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Elements/input#value) otherwise, or `0` if neither is provided (except for `week`, which has a default step base of −259,200,000, representing the start of week `1970-W01`).
 
 ## Syntax
 

@@ -82,17 +82,14 @@ If both the `max` and `min` attributes are set, this value must be a date string
 
 ### step
 
-The `step` attribute is a number that specifies the granularity that the value must adhere to, or the special value `any`, which is described below. Only values which are equal to the basis for stepping ([`min`](#min) if specified, [`value`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Elements/input#value) otherwise, and an appropriate default value if neither of those is provided) are valid.
+The `step` attribute is a number that specifies the granularity that the value must adhere to, or the special value `any`, which is described below. Only values which are a whole number of steps from the step base are valid. The step base is [`min`](#min) if specified, [`value`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Elements/input#value) otherwise, or `0` (the Unix epoch, `1970-01-01`) if neither is provided.
 
-A string value of `any` means that no stepping is implied, and any value is allowed (barring other constraints, such as [`min`](#min) and [`max`](#max)).
+For `date` inputs, the value of `step` is given in days and is treated as a number of milliseconds equal to 86,400,000 times the `step` value (the underlying numeric value is in milliseconds). The default value is 1, indicating 1 day.
 
-> [!NOTE]
-> When the data entered by the user doesn't adhere to the stepping configuration, the {{Glossary("user agent")}} may round to the nearest valid value, preferring numbers in the positive direction when there are two equally close options.
-
-For `date` inputs, the value of `step` is given in days; and is treated as a number of milliseconds equal to 86,400,000 times the `step` value (the underlying numeric value is in milliseconds). The default value of `step` is 1, indicating 1 day.
+A string value of `any` means that no stepping is implied, and any value is allowed (barring other constraints, such as [`min`](#min) and [`max`](#max)). In reality, it has the same effect as `1` for `date` inputs because the picker UI only allows selecting whole days.
 
 > [!NOTE]
-> Specifying `any` as the value for `step` has the same effect as `1` for `date` inputs.
+> When the data entered by the user doesn't adhere to the stepping configuration, the {{Glossary("user agent")}} may round to the nearest valid value, preferring numbers in the positive direction when there are two equally close options.
 
 ## Using date inputs
 

@@ -85,17 +85,15 @@ This value must specify a date string earlier than or equal to the one specified
 
 ### step
 
-The `step` attribute is a number that specifies the granularity that the value must adhere to, or the special value `any`, which is described below. Only values which are equal to the basis for stepping ([`min`](#min) if specified, [`value`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Elements/input#value) otherwise, and an appropriate default value if neither of those is provided) are valid.
+The `step` attribute is a number that specifies the granularity that the value must adhere to, or the special value `any`, which is described below. Only values which are a whole number of steps from the step base are valid. The step base is [`min`](#min) if specified, [`value`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Elements/input#value) otherwise, or `0` (the Unix epoch, `1970-01-01T00:00`) if neither is provided.
 
-A string value of `any` means that no stepping is implied, and any value is allowed (barring other constraints, such as [`min`](#min) and [`max`](#max)).
+For `datetime-local` inputs, the value of `step` is given in seconds and is treated as a number of milliseconds equal to 1000 times the `step` value (the underlying numeric value is in milliseconds). The default value is 60, indicating 1 minute.
+
+A string value of `any` means that no stepping is implied, and any value is allowed (barring other constraints, such as [`min`](#min) and [`max`](#max)). In reality, it has the same effect as `60` for `datetime-local` inputs because the picker UI in this case only allows selecting whole minutes.
 
 > [!NOTE]
 > When the data entered by the user doesn't adhere to the stepping configuration, the {{Glossary("user agent")}} may round to the nearest valid value, preferring numbers in the positive direction when there are two equally close options.
 
-For `datetime-local` inputs, the value of `step` is given in seconds, with a scaling factor of 1000 (since the underlying numeric value is in milliseconds). The default value of `step` is 60, indicating 60 seconds (or 1 minute, or 60,000 milliseconds).
-
-_At this time, it's unclear what a value of `any` means for `step` when used with `datetime-local` inputs. This will be updated as soon as that information is determined._
-
 ## Using datetime-local inputs
 
 Date/time inputs are convenient for the developer; they provide an easy UI for choosing dates and times, and they normalize the data format sent to the server, regardless of the user's locale. However, it is important to consider your users. Don't require your users to enter data that is not needed for your app to function.

@@ -590,15 +590,13 @@ A few additional non-standard attributes are listed following the descriptions o
   - : Valid for the `image` input button only, the `src` is string specifying the URL of the image file to display to represent the graphical submit button. See the {{HTMLElement("input/image", "image")}} input type.
 
 - [`step`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Attributes/step)
-  - : Valid for `date`, `month`, `week`, `time`, `datetime-local`, `number`, and `range`, the [`step`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Attributes/step) attribute is a number that specifies the granularity that the value must adhere to.
+  - : Valid for `date`, `month`, `week`, `time`, `datetime-local`, `number`, and `range`, the [`step`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Attributes/step) attribute is a number that specifies the granularity that the value must adhere to. Only values which are a whole number of steps from the step base are valid. The step base is [`min`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Attributes/min) if specified, [`value`](#value) otherwise, or `0` if neither is provided (except for `week`, which has a default step base of −259,200,000, representing the start of week `1970-W01`).
 
     If not explicitly included:
     - `step` defaults to 1 for `number` and `range`.
     - Each date/time input type has a default `step` value appropriate for the type; see the individual input pages: [`date`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Elements/input/date#step), [`datetime-local`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Elements/input/datetime-local#step), [`month`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Elements/input/month#step), [`time`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Elements/input/time#step), and [`week`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Elements/input/week#step).
 
-    The value must be a positive number—integer or float—or the special value `any`, which means no stepping is implied, and any value is allowed (barring other constraints, such as [`min`](#min) and [`max`](#max)).
-
-    If `any` is not explicitly set, valid values for the `number`, date/time input types, and `range` input types are equal to the basis for stepping — the [`min`](#min) value and increments of the step value, up to the [`max`](#max) value, if specified.
+    The value must be a positive number—integer or float—or the special value `any`, which means no stepping is implied, and any value is allowed (barring other constraints, such as [`min`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Attributes/min) and [`max`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Attributes/max)).
 
     For example, if you have `<input type="number" min="10" step="2">`, then any even integer, `10` or greater, is valid. If omitted, `<input type="number">`, any integer is valid, but floats (like `4.2`) are not valid, because `step` defaults to `1`. For `4.2` to be valid, `step` would have had to be set to `any`, 0.1, 0.2, or the `min` value would have had to be a number ending in `.2`, such as `<input type="number" min="-5.2">`.
 

@@ -116,17 +116,15 @@ Its `value` can, however, still be changed from JavaScript code that directly se
 
 ### step
 
-The `step` attribute is a number that specifies the granularity that the value must adhere to, or the special value `any`, which is described below.
-Only values which are equal to the basis for stepping ([`min`](#min) if specified, [`value`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Elements/input#value) otherwise, and an appropriate default value if neither of those is provided) are valid.
+The `step` attribute is a number that specifies the granularity that the value must adhere to, or the special value `any`, which is described below. Only values which are a whole number of steps from the step base are valid. The step base is [`min`](#min) if specified, [`value`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Elements/input#value) otherwise, or `0` (the Unix epoch, `1970-01`) if neither is provided.
 
-A string value of `any` means that no stepping is implied, and any value is allowed (barring other constraints, such as [`min`](#min) and [`max`](#max)).
+For `month` inputs, the value of `step` is given in months. The default value of `step` is 1, indicating 1 month.
+
+A string value of `any` means that no stepping is implied, and any value is allowed (barring other constraints, such as [`min`](#min) and [`max`](#max)). In reality, it has the same effect as `1` for `month` inputs because the picker UI only allows selecting whole months.
 
 > [!NOTE]
 > When the data entered by the user doesn't adhere to the stepping configuration, the {{Glossary("user agent")}} may round to the nearest valid value, preferring numbers in the positive direction when there are two equally close options.
 
-For `month` inputs, the value of `step` is given in months, with a scaling factor of 1 (since the underlying numeric value is also in months).
-The default value of `step` is 1 month.
-
 ## Using month inputs
 
 Date-related inputs (including `month`) sound convenient at first glance; they promise an easy UI for choosing dates, and they normalize the data format sent to the server, regardless of the user's locale.

@@ -82,15 +82,15 @@ A Boolean attribute which, if present, means this field cannot be edited by the
 
 ### `step`
 
-The `step` attribute is a number that specifies the granularity that the value must adhere to, or the special value `any`, which is described below. Only values which are equal to the basis for stepping ([`min`](#min) if specified, [`value`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Elements/input#value) otherwise, and an appropriate default value if neither of those is provided) are valid.
+The `step` attribute is a number that specifies the granularity that the value must adhere to, or the special value `any`, which is described below. Only values which are a whole number of steps from the step base are valid. The step base is [`min`](#min) if specified, [`value`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Elements/input#value) otherwise, or `0` if neither is provided.
+
+The default stepping value for `number` inputs is `1`, allowing only integers to be entered—_unless_ the stepping base is not an integer.
 
 A string value of `any` means that no stepping is implied, and any value is allowed (barring other constraints, such as [`min`](#min) and [`max`](#max)).
 
 > [!NOTE]
 > When the data entered by the user doesn't adhere to the stepping configuration, the {{Glossary("user agent")}} may round to the nearest valid value, preferring numbers in the positive direction when there are two equally close options.
 
-The default stepping value for `number` inputs is `1`, allowing only integers to be entered—_unless_ the stepping base is not an integer.
-
 ## Using number inputs
 
 The `number` input type should only be used for incremental numbers, especially when spinbutton incrementing and decrementing are helpful to user experience. The `number` input type is not appropriate for values that happen to only consist of numbers but aren't strictly speaking a number, such as postal codes in many countries or credit card numbers. For non-numeric inputs, consider using a different input type, such as [`<input type="tel">`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Elements/input/tel) or other {{HTMLElement('input')}} type with the [`inputmode`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Global_attributes/inputmode) attribute:

@@ -100,15 +100,15 @@ This value must be less than or equal to the value of the [`max`](/en-US/docs/We
 
 ### step
 
-The `step` attribute is a number that specifies the granularity that the value must adhere to. Only values that match the specified stepping interval ([`min`](#min) if specified, [`value`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Elements/input#value) otherwise, or an appropriate default value if neither of those is provided) are valid.
+The `step` attribute is a number that specifies the granularity that the value must adhere to, or the special value `any`, which is described below. Only values which are a whole number of steps from the step base are valid. The step base is [`min`](#min) if specified, [`value`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Elements/input#value) otherwise, or `0` if neither is provided.
 
-The `step` attribute can also be set to the `any` string value. This `step` value means that no stepping interval is implied and any value is allowed in the specified range (barring other constraints, such as [`min`](#min) and [`max`](#max)). See the [Setting step to the `any` value](#setting_step_to_any) example for how this works in supported browsers.
+The default stepping value for `step` inputs is `1`, allowing only integers to be entered—_unless_ the stepping base is not an integer.
+
+A string value of `any` means that no stepping is implied, and any value is allowed (barring other constraints, such as [`min`](#min) and [`max`](#max)). See the [Setting step to the `any` value](#setting_step_to_any) example for how this works in supported browsers.
 
 > [!NOTE]
 > When the value entered by a user doesn't adhere to the stepping configuration, the {{Glossary("user agent")}} may round off the value to the nearest valid value, preferring to round numbers up when there are two equally close options.
 
-The default stepping value for `range` inputs is 1, allowing only integers to be entered, _unless_ the stepping base is not an integer; for example, if you set `min` to -10 and `value` to 1.5, then a `step` of 1 will allow only values such as 1.5, 2.5, 3.5,… in the positive direction and -0.5, -1.5, -2.5,… in the negative direction. See the [HTML `step` attribute](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Attributes/step).
-
 ## Non-standard attributes
 
 ### orient

@@ -130,17 +130,15 @@ A Boolean attribute which, if present, means this field cannot be edited by the
 
 ### step
 
-The `step` attribute is a number that specifies the granularity that the value must adhere to, or the special value `any`, which is described below. Only values which are equal to the basis for stepping ([`min`](#min) if specified, [`value`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Elements/input#value) otherwise, and an appropriate default value if neither of those is provided) are valid.
+The `step` attribute is a number that specifies the granularity that the value must adhere to, or the special value `any`, which is described below. Only values which are a whole number of steps from the step base are valid. The step base is [`min`](#min) if specified, [`value`](/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Elements/input#value) otherwise, or `0` (`00:00:00`) if neither is provided.
 
-A string value of `any` means that no stepping is implied, and any value is allowed (barring other constraints, such as [`min`](#min) and [`max`](#max)).
+For `time` inputs, the value of `step` is given in seconds and is treated as a number of milliseconds equal to 1000 times the `step` value (the underlying numeric value is in milliseconds). The default value is 60, indicating 1 minute.
+
+A string value of `any` means that no stepping is implied, and any value is allowed (barring other constraints, such as [`min`](#min) and [`max`](#max)). In reality, it has the same effect as `60` for `time` inputs because the picker UI in this case only allows selecting whole minutes.
 
 > [!NOTE]
 > When the data entered by the user doesn't adhere to the stepping configuration, the {{Glossary("user agent")}} may round to the nearest valid value, preferring numbers in the positive direction when there are two equally close options.
 
-For `time` inputs, the value of `step` is given in seconds, with a scaling factor of 1000 (since the underlying numeric value is in milliseconds). The default value of `step` is 60, indicating 60 seconds (or 1 minute, or 60,000 milliseconds).
-
-When `any` is set as the value for `step`, the default 60 seconds is used, and the seconds value is not displayed in the UI.
-
 ## Using time inputs
 
 ### Basic uses of time