files/en-us/web/api/htmlinputelement/selectionstart/index.md
{{ApiRef("HTML DOM")}}
The selectionStart property of the {{domxref("HTMLInputElement")}} interface is a number that represents the beginning index of the selected text. When nothing is selected, then returns the position of the text input cursor (caret) inside of the <input> element.
[!NOTE] According to the WHATWG forms spec
selectionStartproperty applies only to inputs of types text, search, URL, tel, and password. In modern browsers, throws an exception while settingselectionStartproperty on the rest of input types. Additionally, this property returnsnullwhile accessingselectionStartproperty on non-text input elements.
If selectionStart is greater than selectionEnd, then both are
treated as the value of selectionEnd.
A non-negative number.
<!-- use selectionStart on non text input element -->
<label for="color">selectionStart property on type=color</label>
<input id="color" type="color" />
<!-- use selectionStart on text input element -->
<fieldset>
<legend>selectionStart property on type=text</legend>
<label for="statement">Select 'mdn' word from the text : </label>
<input
type="text"
id="statement"
value="The mdn is a documentation repository." />
<button id="statement-btn">Select mdn text</button>
</fieldset>
const inputElement = document.getElementById("statement");
const statementBtn = document.getElementById("statement-btn");
const colorStart = document.getElementById("color");
statementBtn.addEventListener("click", () => {
inputElement.selectionStart = 4;
inputElement.selectionEnd = 7;
inputElement.focus();
});
// open browser console to verify output
console.log(colorStart.selectionStart); // Output : null
{{EmbedLiveSample("Examples")}}
{{Specifications}}
{{Compat}}