THE WORLD'S LARGEST WEB DEVELOPER SITE
HTMLCSSJAVASCRIPTSQLPHPBOOTSTRAPJQUERYANGULARXML
 

Select selectedIndex Property

Select Object Reference Select Object

Example

Select the <option> element with index "2":

document.getElementById("mySelect").selectedIndex = "2";
Try it Yourself »

Definition and Usage

The selectedIndex property sets or returns the index of the selected option in a drop-down list.

The index starts at 0.

Note: If the drop-down list allows multiple selections it will only return the index of the first option selected.

Note: The value "-1" will deselect all options (if any).

Note: If no option is selected, the selectedIndex property will return -1.


Browser Support

Internet Explorer Firefox Opera Google Chrome Safari

The selectedIndex property is supported in all major browsers.


Syntax

Return the selectedIndex property:

selectObject.selectedIndex

Set the selectedIndex property:

selectObject.selectedIndex=number

Property Values

Value Description
number Specifies the index of the selected option in a drop-down list

Technical Details

Return Value: A Number, representing the index of the selected option in the drop-down list. The index starts at 0. If no option is selected, the value returned is -1

More Examples

Example

Display the index and text of the selected option in a drop-down list:

var x = document.getElementById("mySelect").selectedIndex;
var y = document.getElementById("mySelect").options;
alert("Index: " + y[x].index + " is " + y[x].text);
Try it Yourself »

Example

Deselect all options:

document.getElementById("mySelect").selectedIndex = "-1";
Try it Yourself »

Example

The selectedIndex property will return "-1" if no options are selected:

var x = document.getElementById("mySelect").selectedIndex;
Try it Yourself »

Select Object Reference Select Object