HTMLSelectElement: value property

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2015.

The HTMLSelectElement.value property contains the value of the first selected <option> element associated with this <select> element.

This property can also be set directly, for example to set a default value based on some condition.

Value

A string containing the value of the first selected <option> element in this <select> element, or the empty string if no options are selected.

Examples

Retrieving the selected value

html
<label for="bird-select">Choose a bird:</label>

<select name="birds" id="bird-select">
  <option value="">--Please choose an option--</option>
  <option value="Scarlet ibis">Scarlet ibis</option>
  <option value="Marabou stork">Marabou stork</option>
  <option value="Roseate spoonbill">Roseate spoonbill</option>
</select>

<pre id="log"></pre>

js
const logElement = document.querySelector("#log");
function log(text) {
  logElement.innerText = text;
}

const select = document.querySelector("#bird-select");
select.addEventListener("change", () => {
  log(`Selection: ${select.value}`);
});

#log {
  height: 20px;
  padding: 0.5rem;
  border: 1px solid black;
}

Specifications

Specification

HTML
# dom-select-value-dev

Browser compatibility

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This page was last modified on May 30, 2024 by MDN contributors.

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