HTMLSelectElement: selectedIndex property

{{APIRef("HTML DOM")}}

The selectedIndex property of the {{DOMxRef("HTMLSelectElement")}} interface is the numeric index of the first selected {{HTMLElement("option")}} element in a {{HTMLElement("select")}} element, if any, or −1 if no <option> is selected. Setting this property selects the option at that index and deselects all other options, while setting it to -1 deselects any currently selected options.

Value

A number.

Examples

HTML

<p id="p">selectedIndex: 0</p>

<select id="select">
  <option selected>Option A</option>
  <option>Option B</option>
  <option>Option C</option>
  <option>Option D</option>
  <option>Option E</option>
</select>

JavaScript

const selectElem = document.getElementById("select");
const pElem = document.getElementById("p");

// When a new <option> is selected
selectElem.addEventListener("change", () => {
  const index = selectElem.selectedIndex;
  // Add that data to the <p>
  pElem.textContent = `selectedIndex: ${index}`;
});

{{EmbedLiveSample("Examples", "200px", "120px")}}

Specifications

{{Specifications}}

Browser compatibility

{{Compat}}

See also

• {{DOMxRef("HTMLSelectElement")}}
• {{DOMxRef("HTMLOptionElement")}}
• {{DOMxRef("HTMLOptionsCollection")}}