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user-select

The user-select CSS property controls whether the user can select text. This doesn't have any effect on content loaded as chrome, except in textboxes.

/* Keyword values */
user-select: none;
user-select: auto;
user-select: text;
user-select: contain;
user-select: all;

/* Global values */
user-select: inherit;
user-select: initial;
user-select: unset;

/* Mozilla-specific values */
-moz-user-select: none;
-moz-user-select: text;
-moz-user-select: all;

/* WebKit-specific values */
-webkit-user-select: none;
-webkit-user-select: text;
-webkit-user-select: all; /* Doesn't work in Safari; use only
                             "none" or "text", or else it will
                             allow typing in the <html> container */

/* Microsoft-specific values */
-ms-user-select: none;
-ms-user-select: text;
-ms-user-select: element;

Note: user-select is not an inherited property, though the initial auto value makes it behave like it is inherited most of the time. WebKit/Chromium-based browsers do implement the property as inherited, which violates the behavior described in the spec, and this will bring some issues. Until now, Chromium chooses to fix the issues, make the final behavior meets the specifications.

Syntax

none

The text of the element and its sub-elements is not selectable. Note that the Selection object can contain these elements.

auto

The used value of auto is determined as follows:

On the ::before and ::after pseudo elements, the used value is none
If the element is an editable element, the used value is contain
Otherwise, if the used value of user-select on the parent of this element is all, the used value is all
Otherwise, if the used value of user-select on the parent of this element is none, the used value is none
Otherwise, the used value is text

text

The text can be selected by the user.

all

The content of the element shall be selected atomically: If a selection would contain part of the element, then the selection must contain the entire element including all its descendants. If a double-click or context-click occurred in sub-elements, the highest ancestor with this value will be selected.

contain

Enables selection to start within the element; however, the selection will be contained by the bounds of that element.

element (IE-specific alias)

Same as contain. Supported only in Internet Explorer.

Note: CSS UI 4 renames user-select: element to contain.

Formal definition

Initial value	`auto`
Applies to	all elements
Inherited	no
Computed value	as specified
Animation type	discrete

Formal syntax

auto | text | none | contain | all

Examples

HTML

<p>You should be able to select this text.</p>
<p class="unselectable">Hey, you can't select this text!</p>
<p class="all">Clicking once will select all of this text.</p>

CSS

.unselectable {
  -moz-user-select: none;
  -webkit-user-select: none;
  -ms-user-select: none;
  user-select: none;
}

.all {
  -moz-user-select: all;
  -webkit-user-select: all;
  -ms-user-select: all;
  user-select: all;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
CSS Basic User Interface Module Level 4 The definition of 'user-select' in that specification.	Working Draft	Initial definition. Also defines `-webkit-user-select` as a deprecated alias of `user-select`.

Browser compatibilityUpdate compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari
`user-select`	54 54 1 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	12 Prefixed 12 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -ms- 12 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	69 69 49 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- 1 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -moz- 44 Prefixed Disabled Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- Disabled From version 44: this feature is behind the `layout.css.prefixes.webkit` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	10 Prefixed 10 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -ms-	15 Prefixed 15 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	3 Prefixed 3 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- 2 — 3 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -khtml-
`all`	53	79	1	No	40	No
`auto`	1	12	1	10	15	2
`contain`	No	12 — 79 12 — 79 Uses the non-standard name: `element`	No	10 10 Uses the non-standard name: `element`	No	No
`none`	1	12	21 21 1 — 65 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -moz-	10	15	2
`text`	1	12	1	10	15	2 2 Allows typing in the `<html>` container.

	Mobile
	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
`user-select`	54 54 ≤37 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	54 54 18 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	49 Prefixed 49 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- 4 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -moz- 44 Prefixed Disabled Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- Disabled From version 44: this feature is behind the `layout.css.prefixes.webkit` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	14 Prefixed 14 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	3 Prefixed 3 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	6.0 6.0 1.0 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
`all`	53	53	4	41	No	6.0
`auto`	≤37	18	4	14	3	1.0
`contain`	No	No	No	No	No	No
`none`	≤37	18	21 21 4 — 65 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -moz-	14	3	1.0
`text`	≤37	18	4	14	3 3 Allows typing in the `<html>` container.	1.0