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HTMLSelectElement: selectedIndex property

The HTMLSelectElement.selectedIndex property is a long that reflects the index of the first or last selected <option> element, depending on the value of multiple. The value -1 indicates that no element is selected.

Value

A number.

Examples

HTML

html

<p id="p">selectedIndex: 0</p>

<select id="select">
  <option selected>Option A</option>
  <option>Option B</option>
  <option>Option C</option>
  <option>Option D</option>
  <option>Option E</option>
</select>

JavaScript

js

const selectElem = document.getElementById("select");
const pElem = document.getElementById("p");

// When a new <option> is selected
selectElem.addEventListener("change", () => {
  const index = selectElem.selectedIndex;
  // Add that data to the <p>
  pElem.textContent = `selectedIndex: ${index}`;
});

Specifications

Browser compatibility

Desktop Mobile
Chrome Edge Firefox Internet Explorer Opera Safari WebView Android Chrome Android Firefox for Android Opera Android Safari on IOS Samsung Internet
selectedIndex 1 12 1 5.5 ≤12.1 3 4.4 18 4 ≤12.1 1 1.0

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https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/HTMLSelectElement/selectedIndex