Web/API/Selection/rangeCount

This is an experimental technologyCheck the Browser compatibility table carefully before using this in production.

The Selection.rangeCount read-only property returns the number of ranges in the selection.

Before the user has clicked a freshly loaded page, the rangeCount is 0. After the user clicks on the page, rangeCount is 1, even if no selection is visible.

A user can normally only select one range at a time, so the rangeCount will usually be 1. Scripting can be used to make the selection contain more than one range.

Gecko browsers allow multiple selections across table cells. Firefox allows to select multiple ranges in the document by using Ctrl+click (unless the click occurs within an element that has the display: table-cell CSS property assigned).

Syntax

value = sel.rangeCount

Example

The following example will show the rangeCount every second. Select text in the browser to see it change.

HTML

<table>
  <tr><td>a.1<td>a.2
  <tr><td>b.1<td>b.2
  <tr><td>c.1<td>c.2

JavaScript

window.setInterval(function () {
  console.log(window.getSelection().rangeCount);
}, 1000);

Result

Open your console to see how many ranges are in the selection. In Gecko browsers, you can select multiple ranges across table cells by holding down Ctrl while dragging with the mouse.

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
Selection APIThe definition of 'Selection.rangeCount' in that specification.	Working Draft	Current

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
`rangeCount` Experimental'	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support Yes	IE Full support Yes	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support Yes	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes

Legend

Full support: Full support
Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.': Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.