HTMLInputElement: setRangeText() method

The HTMLInputElement.setRangeText() method replaces a range of text in an <input> or <textarea> element with a new string.

Syntax

setRangeText(replacement)
setRangeText(replacement, start)
setRangeText(replacement, start, end)
setRangeText(replacement, start, end, selectMode)

Parameters

replacement

The string to insert.

start Optional

The 0-based index of the first character to replace. Defaults to the current selectionStart value (the start of the user's current selection).

end Optional

The 0-based index of the character after the last character to replace. Defaults to the current selectionEnd value (the end of the user's current selection).

selectMode Optional

A string defining how the selection should be set after the text has been replaced. Possible values:

• "select" selects the newly inserted text.
• "start" moves the selection to just before the inserted text.
• "end" moves the selection to just after the inserted text.
• "preserve" attempts to preserve the selection. This is the default.

Return value

None (undefined).

Examples

Click the button in this example to replace part of the text in the text box. The newly inserted text will be highlighted (selected) afterwards.

HTML

<input
  type="text"
  id="text-box"
  size="30"
  value="This text has NOT been updated." />
<button>Update text</button>

JavaScript

function selectText() {
  const input = document.getElementById("text-box");
  input.focus();
  input.setRangeText("ALREADY", 14, 17, "select");
}

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

Result

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• <input>
• <textarea>
• HTMLInputElement
• Selection