HTMLInputElement: select() method

The HTMLInputElement.select() method selects all the text in a <textarea> element or in an <input> element that includes a text field.

Syntax

select()

Parameters

None.

Return value

None (undefined).

Examples

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>Select text</button>

JavaScript

function selectText() {
  const input = document.getElementById("text-box");
  input.focus();
  input.select();
}

document.querySelector("button").addEventListener("click", selectText);

Result

Notes

Calling element.select() will not necessarily focus the input, so it is often used with HTMLElement.focus.

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• <input>
• <textarea>
• HTMLInputElement
• HTMLInputElement.setSelectionRange