Summary

The select (<select>) HTML element represents a control that presents menu of options. The options within the menu are represented by <option> elements, which can be grouped by <optgroup> elements. Options can be pre-selected for the user.

Usage content

Attributes

Like all other HTML elements, this element supports the global attributes.

autofocus HTML5

This attribute lets you specify that a form control should have input focus when the page loads, unless the user overrides it, for example by typing in a different control. Only one form element in a document can have the autofocus attribute, which is a Boolean.

disabled

This Boolean attribute indicates that the user cannot interact with the control. If this attribute is not specified, the control inherits its setting from the containing element, for example fieldset; if there is no containing element with the disabled attribute set, then the control is enabled.

form HTML5

The form element that the select element is associated with (its "form owner"). The value of the attribute must be an ID of a form element in the same document. If this attribute is not specified, the select element must be a descendant of a form element. This attribute enables you to place select elements anywhere within a document, not just as descendants of their form elements.

multiple

This Boolean attribute indicates that multiple options can be selected in the list. If it is not specified, then only one option can be selected at a time.

selectedIndex

The index of the selected <option> element.

name

The name of the control.

required HTML5

A Boolean attribute indicating that an option with a non-empty string value must be selected.

size

If the control is presented as a scrolled list box, this attribute represents the number of rows in the list that should be visible at one time. Browsers are not required to present a select elements as a scrolled list box. The default value is 0.

DOM Interface

This element implements the HTMLSelectElement interface.

Examples

<!-- The second value will be selected initially -->
<select name="select">
  <option value="value1">Value 1</option> 
  <option value="value2" selected>Value 2</option>
  <option value="value3">Value 3</option>
</select>

See also

• Other form-related elements: <form> , <legend> , <label> , <button> , <option> , <datalist> , <optgroup> , <fieldset> , <textarea> , <keygen> , <input> , <output> , <progress> and <meter> .