The user-select
CSS property controls whether the user can select text. This doesn't have any effect on content loaded as chrome, except in textboxes.
/* Keyword values */ user-select: none; user-select: auto; user-select: text; user-select: contain; user-select: all; /* Global values */ user-select: inherit; user-select: initial; user-select: unset; /* Mozilla-specific values */ -moz-user-select: none; -moz-user-select: text; -moz-user-select: all; /* WebKit-specific values */ -webkit-user-select: none; -webkit-user-select: text; -webkit-user-select: all; /* Doesn't work in Safari; use only "none" or "text", or else it will allow typing in the <html> container */ /* Microsoft-specific values */ -ms-user-select: none; -ms-user-select: text; -ms-user-select: element;
Note: user-select
is not an inherited property, though the initial auto
value makes it behave like it is inherited most of the time. WebKit/Chromium-based browsers do implement the property as inherited, which violates the behavior described in the spec, and this will bring some issues. Until now, Chromium chooses to fix the issues, make the final behavior meets the specifications.
Syntax
none
- The text of the element and its sub-elements is not selectable. Note that the
Selection
object can contain these elements. auto
- The used value of
auto
is determined as follows:
- On the
::before
and::after
pseudo elements, the used value isnone
- If the element is an editable element, the used value is
contain
- Otherwise, if the used value of
user-select
on the parent of this element isall
, the used value isall
- Otherwise, if the used value of
user-select
on the parent of this element isnone
, the used value isnone
- Otherwise, the used value is
text
- On the
text
- The text can be selected by the user.
all
- The content of the element shall be selected atomically: If a selection would contain part of the element, then the selection must contain the entire element including all its descendants. If a double-click or context-click occurred in sub-elements, the highest ancestor with this value will be selected.
contain
- Enables selection to start within the element; however, the selection will be contained by the bounds of that element.
element
' (IE-specific alias)- Same as
contain
. Supported only in Internet Explorer.
Note: CSS UI 4 renames user-select: element
to contain
.
Formal definition
Initial value | auto
|
Applies to | all elements |
Inherited | no |
Computed value | as specified |
Animation type | discrete |
Formal syntax
auto | text | none | contain | all
Examples
HTML
<p>You should be able to select this text.</p>
<p class="unselectable">Hey, you can't select this text!</p>
<p class="all">Clicking once will select all of this text.</p>
CSS
.unselectable {
-moz-user-select: none;
-webkit-user-select: none;
-ms-user-select: none;
user-select: none;
}
.all {
-moz-user-select: all;
-webkit-user-select: all;
-ms-user-select: all;
user-select: all;
}
Result
Specifications
Specification | Status | Comment |
---|---|---|
CSS Basic User Interface Module Level 4The definition of 'user-select' in that specification. | Working Draft | Initial definition. Also defines -webkit-user-select as a deprecated alias of user-select .
|
Browser compatibility
The compatibility table on this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.
Update compatibility data on GitHub
Desktop | Mobile | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
user-select
|
Chrome Full support 54 Full support 54 Full support 1 Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- |
Edge Full support 12 Full support 12 Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -ms- Full support 12 Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- |
Firefox Full support 69 Full support 69 Full support 49 Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- Full support 1 Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -moz- Full support 44 Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Disabled' From version 44: this feature is behind the |
IE Full support 10 Full support 10 Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -ms- |
Opera Full support 15 Full support 15 Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- |
Safari Full support 3 Full support 3 Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- No support 2 — 3 Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -khtml- |
WebView Android Full support 54 Full support 54 Full support ≤37 Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- |
Chrome Android Full support 54 Full support 54 Full support 18 Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- |
Firefox Android Full support 49 Full support 49 Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- Full support 4 Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -moz- Full support 44 Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
Disabled' From version 44: this feature is behind the |
Opera Android Full support 14 Full support 14 Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- |
Safari iOS Full support 3 Full support 3 Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- |
Samsung Internet Android Full support 6.0 Full support 6.0 Full support 1.0 Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- |
all
|
Chrome
Full support 53 |
Edge
Full support 79 |
Firefox
Full support 1 |
IE
No support No |
Opera
Full support 40 |
Safari
No support No |
WebView Android
Full support 53 |
Chrome Android
Full support 53 |
Firefox Android
Full support 4 |
Opera Android
Full support 41 |
Safari iOS
No support No |
Samsung Internet Android
Full support 6.0 |
auto
|
Chrome
Full support 1 |
Edge
Full support 12 |
Firefox
Full support 1 |
IE
Full support 10 |
Opera
Full support 15 |
Safari
Full support 2 |
WebView Android
Full support ≤37 |
Chrome Android
Full support 18 |
Firefox Android
Full support 4 |
Opera Android
Full support 14 |
Safari iOS
Full support 3 |
Samsung Internet Android
Full support 1.0 |
contain
|
Chrome
No support No |
Edge No support 12 — 79 No support 12 — 79 Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: |
Firefox
No support No |
IE Full support 10 Full support 10 Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: |
Opera
No support No |
Safari
No support No |
WebView Android
No support No |
Chrome Android
No support No |
Firefox Android
No support No |
Opera Android
No support No |
Safari iOS
No support No |
Samsung Internet Android
No support No |
none
|
Chrome
Full support 1 |
Edge
Full support 12 |
Firefox Full support 21 Full support 21 No support 1 — 65 Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -moz- |
IE
Full support 10 |
Opera
Full support 15 |
Safari
Full support 2 |
WebView Android
Full support ≤37 |
Chrome Android
Full support 18 |
Firefox Android Full support 21 Full support 21 No support 4 — 65 Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: -moz- |
Opera Android
Full support 14 |
Safari iOS
Full support 3 |
Samsung Internet Android
Full support 1.0 |
text
|
Chrome
Full support 1 |
Edge
Full support 12 |
Firefox
Full support 1 |
IE
Full support 10 |
Opera
Full support 15 |
Safari Partial support 2 Partial support 2 Notes' Allows typing in the |
WebView Android
Full support ≤37 |
Chrome Android
Full support 18 |
Firefox Android
Full support 4 |
Opera Android
Full support 14 |
Safari iOS Partial support 3 Partial support 3 Notes' Allows typing in the |
Samsung Internet Android
Full support 1.0 |
Legend
- Full support
- Full support
- Partial support
- Partial support
- No support
- No support
- See implementation notes.'
- See implementation notes.
- User must explicitly enable this feature.'
- User must explicitly enable this feature.
- Uses a non-standard name.'
- Uses a non-standard name.
- Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.'
- Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.
See also
::selection
pseudo-element- The JavaScript
Selection
object
user-select by Mozilla Contributors is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.5.