Set select option 'selected', by value

Question

I have a select field with some options in it. Now I need to select one of those options with jQuery. But how can I do that when I only know the value of the option that must be selected?

I have the following HTML:

<div class="id_100">
  <select>
    <option value="val1">Val 1</option>
    <option value="val2">Val 2</option>
    <option value="val3">Val 3</option>
  </select>
</div>

I need to select the option with value val2. How can this be done?

Here's a demo page: http://jsfiddle.net/9Stxb/

Picardi

Answer 1

There's an easier way that doesn't require you to go into the options tag:

$("div.id_100 select").val("val2");

Check out this jQuery method.

Note: The above code does not trigger the change event. You need to call it like this for full compatibility:

$("div.id_100 select").val("val2").change();

Cavalla

This may cause bugs in FF (at least) occuring in empty select box – Haehaecceity

the poster of the question starts with: "I have a select field with some options in it..." so it's not empty, therefore solution remains correct. – Cavalla

I faced the empty dropdown issue due to val() but it was resolved by using prop() or attr(). – Jubilate

How would you achieve this if the value was empty? – Starobin

What if the select has a multiple attribute set? I tried comma separating the values, but wont work.. – Superannuation

Wrt the issue of empty options or setting a value that is currently not in the options, I would say that your logic should detect and avoid this situation rather than having it fail silently. – Cavalla

@JamesCazzetta send an array to val: .val(["Multiple2", "Multiple3"]). api.jquery.com/val/#val-value – Mendelsohn

I had to manually call .val(x).change(); to trigger the select's onChange event, it seems setting val() doesn't fire it. – Mendelsohn

Be careful: val() may set values that do not exist in options. – Arbitrament

This will try to set "val2" as the value of the entire select (which doesn't have any effect), but the question was how to select the option element where value is val2 - Am I missing something here? – Puppis

This WILL NOT update the element's outerHTML property. If you need that property, this solution does not work. – Mudcat

@Mendelsohn 's tip is great, and I've found a lot of these hacky utilities that implement wrappers for select boxes to provide them with functionality they wouldn't otherwise need require calling the .change() after the .val() to work as intended. – Shull

Using jQuery Mobile don't forget to update the UI so your selection displays. $('#select').selectmenu().selectmenu('refresh'); – Hedjaz

If this is not working for you, remember that $("div.id_100 select") is selecting the <div class="id-100"><select .../> element. For testing purposes, try: $('select').val(the_value); This is only if you have one <select> element in your page. Please, modify as needed. Also, remember to be sure that the element is in the DOM before the script runs. – Hauberk

I use query mobile and is necesary to use the trigger("change") to update the UI. Thanks – Carrell

Answer 2

To select an option with value 'val2':

$('.id_100 option[value=val2]').attr('selected','selected');

Flinger

This is the best solution if the desired value may or may not be an option, and you don't want to make a change if it isn't an option. If you use .val() on the select and try to pick a value that isn't there it will deselect everything. – Teeth

Agree - this is the most elegant option - clear and to the point. Not sure if "prop" works better in all cases (browsers). But this certainly does the easy lookup for you. – Nobie

Also, I have used $("select[name=foo] option[value=bar]).attr('selected','selected'); which also worked well for all browsers I tested. – Nobie

Nice answer BUT, I find it to be inconsistent when dealing with large selects, randomly missing out elements, while .prop() produced a constant result. (Sample was around 4000 options in the select and the script needed to dynamically select anything between 1 and 4000). – Jarrod

Definitely needed to use .attr('selected', true); vs prop() in Safari at least. Surprising since I'd consider this a property but apparently not. – Files

I like this answer because this allows me to set by custom attributes on options in my case I am not setting by value but a custom attribute. – Cannula

This worked for me, but since my values where decimal values (for example .05, .1, .25) I had to use doble quotes around them like this $('.id_100 option[value="val2"]').attr('selected','selected'); – Cyanotype

I like this answer better than the accepted answer, because: element.outerHTML gets updated with this, whereas it does not with the accepted answer. – Mudcat

As indicated by @LeeFuller, .attr('selected', 'selected') is better supported than the .prop way. Chrome ignored @A.Wolff's suggestion. – Clothesline

It's worth noting that this won't work if the select dropdown has been hidden, so in my case I'm using the select boxit plugin but trying to trigger select box change so original code with onchange handler for dropdown will still run. Just have to update code for new element which is selectboxit element – Sheree

Answer 3

Use the change() event after selecting the value. From the documentation:

If the field loses focus without the contents having changed, the event is not triggered. To trigger the event manually, apply .change() without arguments:

$("#select_id").val("val2").change();

More information is at .change().

Twinflower

This deserves much more upvotes and belongs to the top. Its the proper way, no fiddling with prop, attr etc. and progagates all events properly. – Registrar

Yes, this propagates all events correctly. In my testing, "attr" worked the first time, then everything stayed "selected". I used "prop" which changed everything correctly, but didn't propagate events such as (show/hide) other fields. This answer worked in all cases and should be considered correct. – Porthole

Got Error!!! This change calls all other dropdowns change events...How to avoid from calling other dropdowns change events – Bearer

If you already have a listener bound to change this will cause an infinite loop. – Laniary

Using jQuery Mobile you can update the UI without firing the change event by calling refresh. $('#select').selectmenu().selectmenu('refresh'); – Hedjaz

Answer 4

Deselect all first and filter the selectable options:

$('.id_100 option')
     .removeAttr('selected')
     .filter('[value=val1]')
         .attr('selected', true)

Vlad

The value of the selected attribute can be an empty string or selected. Did you mean .prop()? – Bohlin

Good answer. Accepted answer ends with empty select, when the value doesn't exist in options. – Blount

TO THE TOP, best one here. For future use I think we should use prop instead of attr. – Arbitrament

I like this solution a lot. I'm wondering though if it would be better, performance-wise, if the selector was changed to ".id_100 > option" – Swaney

In my case, I had to use .prop('selected', true); instead of .attr('selected', true); and also I had to trigger select.change() event because it is not triggered automatically. – Poetaster

.attr was probably valid syntax in 2012, but shouldn't work these days as it's the property that needs to be changed, not the attribute. It should be .prop() – Ostium

Answer 5

<select name="contribution_status_id" id="contribution_status_id" class="form-select">
    <option value="1">Completed</option>
    <option value="2">Pending</option>
    <option value="3">Cancelled</option>
    <option value="4">Failed</option>
    <option value="5">In Progress</option>
    <option value="6">Overdue</option>
    <option value="7">Refunded</option>
</select>

Setting to Pending status by value:

$('#contribution_status_id').val("2");

Abridge

Answer 6

For me the following did the job

$("div.id_100").val("val2").change();

Kaon

Answer 7

I think the easiest way is selecting to set val(), but you can check the following. See How to handle select and option tag in jQuery? for more details about options.

$('div.id_100  option[value="val2"]').prop("selected", true);

$('id_100').val('val2');

Not optimised, but the following logic is also useful in some cases.

$('.id_100 option').each(function() {
    if($(this).val() == 'val2') {
        $(this).prop("selected", true);
    }
});

Blankenship

I prefer this method over setting val() directly. I like to set the attribute too - helps with debugging. $(this).attr("selected","selected") – Raber

Answer 8

The best way is like this:

$(`#YourSelect option[value='${YourValue}']`).prop('selected', true);

Coulee

On chrome, setting $('<select>').val('asdf') did not update the select to show the currently selected option. This answer fixed that problem. – Fishgig

Although this will work too but $('<select>').val('asdf') is working good in chrome 79.0.3945.88 – Washedout

Answer 9

You can achieve this with different methods (remember if an element is to be operated, better give it an id or class, rather than having its parent element be an id or class):

Here,, as the div has a class to target the select inside it, the code will be:

$("div.id_100 select").val("val2");

or

$('div.id_100  option[value="val2"]').prop("selected", true);

If the class would have been given to select itself, the code will be:

$(".id_100").val("val2");

or

$('.id_100 option[value=val2]').attr('selected','selected');

or

$('.id_100 option')
    .removeAttr('selected')
    .filter('[value=val1]')
    .attr('selected', true);

To pass the value dynamically, code will be:

valu="val2";

$("div.id_100 select").val(valu);
$("div.id_100 > select > option[value=" + valu + "]").prop("selected",true);

If element is added through Ajax, you will have to give 'id' to your element and use:

window.document.getElementById

Else you will have to give 'class' to your element and use

window.document.getElementById

You can also select the value of the select element by its index number.

If you have given ID to your select element, the code will be:

window.document.getElementById('select_element').selectedIndex = 4;

Remember when you change the select value as said above, the change method is not called.

I.e., if you have written code to do some stuff on change of select the above methods will change the select value but will not trigger the change.

To trigger the change function, you have to add .change() at the end.

So the code will be:

$("#select_id").val("val2").change();

Interpellate

Answer 10

You can select on any attribute and its value by using the attribute selector [attributename=optionalvalue], so in your case you can select the option and set the selected attribute.

$("div.id_100 > select > option[value=" + value + "]").prop("selected",true);

Where value is the value you wish to select by.

If you need to removed any prior selected values, as would be the case if this is used multiple times you'd need to change it slightly so as to first remove the selected attribute

$("div.id_100 option:selected").prop("selected",false);
$("div.id_100 option[value=" + value + "]")
        .prop("selected",true);

Participle

Answer 11

A simple answer is, in HTML:

<select name="ukuran" id="idUkuran">
    <option value="1000">pilih ukuran</option>
    <option value="11">M</option>
    <option value="12">L</option>
    <option value="13">XL</option>
</select>

In jQuery, call the below function by a button or whatever

$('#idUkuran').val(11).change();

It is simple and 100% works, because it's taken from my work... :)

Brainstorming

Your default value is 1000? Why not "" – Jehial

it's an optional, you can modify as you need.. :) – Brainstorming

Answer 12

There isn't any reason to overthink this. All you are doing is accessing and setting a property. That's it.

Okay, so some basic DOM:

If you were doing this in straight JavaScript, it you would this:

window.document.getElementById('my_stuff').selectedIndex = 4;

But you're not doing it with straight JavaScript, you're doing it with jQuery. And in jQuery, you want to use the .prop() function to set a property, so you would do it like this:

$("#my_stuff").prop('selectedIndex', 4);

Anyway, just make sure your id is unique. Otherwise, you'll be banging your head on the wall wondering why this didn't work.

Creaky

Answer 13

The easiest way to do that is:

HTML

<select name="dept">
   <option value="">Which department does this doctor belong to?</option>
   <option value="1">Orthopaedics</option>
   <option value="2">Pathology</option>
   <option value="3">ENT</option>
</select>

jQuery

$('select[name="dept"]').val('3');

Output: This will activate ENT.

Marsupium

Answer 14

It's better to use change() after setting select value.

$("div.id_100 select").val("val2").change();

---

By doing this, the code will close to changing select by user, the explanation is included in JS Fiddle:

JS Fiddle

Butylene

Why is this? Could you explain a bit? – Kellam

JS Fiddle. With a change() method, the code will close to changing select by user, while there are on-change listeners needed to be handle. – Butylene

Answer 15

$('#graphtype option[value=""]').prop("selected", true);

This works well where #graphtype is the id of the select tag.

Example select tag:

<select name="site" id="site" class="form-control" onchange="getgraph1(this.options[this.selectedIndex].value);">
   <option value="" selected>Site</option>
   <option value="sitea">SiteA</option>
   <option value="siteb">SiteB</option>
 </select>

Mezzotint

Answer 16

Use:

$("div.id_100 > select > option[value=" + value + "]").attr("selected",true);

This works for me. I'm using this code for parsing a value in a fancybox update form, and my full source from app.js is:

jQuery(".fancybox-btn-upd").click(function(){
    var ebid = jQuery(this).val();

    jQuery.ajax({
        type: "POST",
        url: js_base_url+"manajemen_cms/get_ebook_data",
        data: {ebookid:ebid},
        success: function(transport){
            var re = jQuery.parseJSON(transport);
            jQuery("#upd-kategori option[value="+re['kategori']+"]").attr('selected',true);
            document.getElementById("upd-nama").setAttribute('value',re['judul']);
            document.getElementById("upd-penerbit").setAttribute('value',re['penerbit']);
            document.getElementById("upd-tahun").setAttribute('value',re['terbit']);
            document.getElementById("upd-halaman").setAttribute('value',re['halaman']);
            document.getElementById("upd-bahasa").setAttribute('value',re['bahasa']);

            var content = jQuery("#fancybox-form-upd").html();
            jQuery.fancybox({
                type: 'ajax',
                prevEffect: 'none',
                nextEffect: 'none',
                closeBtn: true,
                content: content,
                helpers: {
                    title: {
                        type: 'inside'
                    }
                }
            });
        }
    });
});

And my PHP code is:

function get_ebook_data()
{
    $ebkid = $this->input->post('ebookid');
    $rs = $this->mod_manajemen->get_ebook_detail($ebkid);
    $hasil['id'] = $ebkid;
    foreach ($rs as $row) {
        $hasil['judul'] = $row->ebook_judul;
        $hasil['kategori'] = $row->ebook_cat_id;
        $hasil['penerbit'] = $row->ebook_penerbit;
        $hasil['terbit'] = $row->ebook_terbit;
        $hasil['halaman'] = $row->ebook_halaman;
        $hasil['bahasa'] = $row->ebook_bahasa;
        $hasil['format'] = $row->ebook_format;
    }
    $this->output->set_output(json_encode($hasil));
}

Schmitz

Answer 17

var opt = new Option(name, id);
$("#selectboxName").append(opt);
opt.setAttribute("selected","selected");

Gallantry

Answer 18

.attr() sometimes doesn't work in older jQuery versions, but you can use .prop():

$('select#ddlCountry option').each(function () {
    if ($(this).text().toLowerCase() == co.toLowerCase()) {
        $(this).prop('selected','selected');
        return;
    }
});

Clang

Answer 19

It works for me:

$("#id_100").val("val2");

Omniscient

Answer 20

There are lots of solutions here to change the selected value, but none of them worked for me as my challenge was slightly different than the OP. I have a need to filter another select drop down based on this value.

Most folks used $("div.id_100").val("val2").change(); to get it to work for them. I had to modify this slightly to $("div#idOfDiv select").val("val2").trigger("change").

This was not completely enough either, I also had to make sure I waited for the document to load. My full code looks like this:

$(document).ready(function() {
    $("div#idOfDiv select").val("val2").trigger("change");
});

Butte

I use query mobile and is necesary to use the trigger("change") to update the UI. Thanks – Carrell

Answer 21

This works for sure for Select Control:

$('select#ddlCountry option').each(function () {
if ($(this).text().toLowerCase() == co.toLowerCase()) {
    this.selected = true;
    return;
} });

Clang

Answer 22

Try this.

It is simple, yet effective, JavaScript + jQuery, the lethal combination.

SelectComponent:

<select id="YourSelectComponentID">
    <option value="0">Apple</option>
    <option value="2">Banana</option>
    <option value="3">Cat</option>
    <option value="4">Dolphin</option>
</select>

Selection:

document.getElementById("YourSelectComponentID").value = 4;

Now your option 4 will be selected. You can do this, to select the values on start by default.

$(function(){
   document.getElementById("YourSelectComponentID").value = 4;
});

Or create a simple function put the line in it and call the function on anyEvent to select the option

A mixture of jQuery + JavaScript does the magic...

Touristy

Answer 23

Here is one simple function what acts like a jQuery plugin.

    $.fn.selectOption = function(val){
        this.val(val)
        .find('option')
        .removeAttr('selected')
        .parent()
        .find('option[value="'+ val +'"]')
        .attr('selected', 'selected')
        .parent()
        .trigger('change');

        return this;
    };

You just simply can do something like this:

$('.id_100').selectOption('val2');

The reason why using this is because you change the selected statement into the DOM what is cross-browser supported and also will trigger change to you can catch it.

It is basically a human action simulation.

Calpac

Answer 24

Thanks to silly's answer:

In my case, I needed to use a combination of

$('.id_100 option')
     .removeAttr('selected')
     .filter('[value=val1]')
         .prop('selected', true);

$('.id_100').val("val1").change(); // I need to set the same value here for my next form submit.

to set the correct value for my next form submission. When using this, even if I have another on change event bounded, it is not giving an infinite loop.

Dishonest

Answer 25

There seems to be an issue with select drop down controls not dynamically changing when the controls are dynamically created instead of being in a static HTML page.

In jQuery this solution worked for me.

$('#editAddMake').val(result.data.make_id);
$('#editAddMake').selectmenu('refresh');

Just as an addendum, the first line of code without the second line, did actually work transparently in that, retrieving the selected index was correct after setting the index and if you actually clicked the control, it would show the correct item, but this didn't reflect in the top label of the control.

Bugger

Answer 26

An issue I ran into when the value is an ID and the text is a code. You cannot set the value using the code but you don't have direct access to the ID.

var value;

$("#selectorId > option").each(function () {
  if ("SOMECODE" === $(this).text()) {
    value = $(this).val();
  }
});

//Do work here

Selffulfillment

Answer 27

I needed to select an option but it was possible for two options to have the same value.
This was purely for visual (front-end) difference.
You can select an option (even if 2 have the same value) like so:

let options = $('#id_100 option')
options.prop('selected', false)   // Deselect all currently selected ones
let option = $(options[0])        // Select option from the list
option.prop('selected', true)
option.parent().change()          // Find the <select> element and call the change() event.

This deselects all currently selected <option> elements. Selects the first (using options[0]) and updates the <select> element using the change event.

Sneakbox

Answer 28

Just use this line. Put the "option value id" you want to make it selected in val()

$('#select_id').val(your_option_value).change();

Lacuna

Answer 29

I have prepared a small JQuery extension that removes all unnecessary options and hides the selected option, the user sees only one value in the select field

$.prototype.makeReadOnly = function (canClick = false) {
    $(this).each(function () {
        $(this).readonly = true;
        if ($(this).is("select")) {
            if(!canClick) $(this).mousedown(function () { event.preventDefault(); }).keydown(function () { event.preventDefault(); });
            $(this).find('option:not(:selected)').remove();
            $(this).find('option').hide();
        }
    });
}

and then you can make all selects read-only

$("select").makeReadOnly();

or selects only with a specific read-only class

$("select.read-only").makeReadOnly();

Cully