Select selectedIndex Property

❮ Select Object

Example

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

document.getElementById("mySelect").selectedIndex = "2";

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Description

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

Property
selectedIndex	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

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);

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Example

Deselect all options:

document.getElementById("mySelect").selectedIndex = "-1";

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Example

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

var x = document.getElementById("mySelect").selectedIndex;

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❮ Select Object