Web/API/Element/select event

The select event fires when some text has been selected.

Bubbles	Yes
Cancelable	No
Interface	UIEvent if generated from a user interface, Event otherwise
Event handler property	onselect

The event is not available for all elements in all languages. For example, in HTML, select events can be dispatched only on form <input type="text"> and <textarea> elements.

Examples

Selection logger

<input value="Try selecting some text in this element.">
<p id="log"></p>

function logSelection(event) {
  const log = document.getElementById('log');
  const selection = event.target.value.substring(event.target.selectionStart, event.target.selectionEnd);
  log.textContent = `You selected: ${selection}`;
}

const input = document.querySelector('input');
input.addEventListener('select', logSelection);

onselect equivalent

You can also set up the event handler using the onselect property:

input.onselect = logSelection;

Specifications

Specification	Status
UI EventsThe definition of 'select' in that specification.	Working Draft

Browser compatibility

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
select event	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge Full support ≤18	Firefox Full support Yes	IE ?	Opera ?	Safari ?	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support Yes	Opera Android ?	Safari iOS ?	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes

Legend

Full support  

Full support

Compatibility unknown  

Compatibility unknown

Element: select event by Mozilla Contributors is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.5.