The HTMLInputElement.select()
method selects all the text in a <textarea>
element or in an <input>
element that includes a text field.
Syntax
element.select();
Example
Click the button in this example to select all the text in the <input>
element.
HTML
<input type="text" id="text-box" size="20" value="Hello world!"> <button onclick="selectText()">Select text</button>
JavaScript
function selectText() { const input = document.getElementById('text-box'); input.focus(); input.select(); }
Result
Notes
Calling element.select()
will not necessarily focus the input, so it is often used with HTMLElement.focus()
.
In browsers where it is not supported, it is possible to replace it with a call to HTMLInputElement.setSelectionRange() with parameters 0 and the input's value length:
<input onClick="this.select();" value="Sample Text" /> <!-- equivalent to --> <input onClick="this.setSelectionRange(0, this.value.length);" value="Sample Text" />
Specifications
Specification | Status | Comment |
---|---|---|
HTML Living Standard The definition of 'select' in that specification. |
Living Standard |
Browser compatibility
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