Set the select option as blank as default in HTML select element

Question

I am required to have no option selected by default in drop down menu in HTML. However, I cannot use:

<select>
  <option></option>
  <option>Option 1</option>
  <option>Option 2</option>
  <option>Option 3</option>
</select>

Because for this I will have to validate to handle the first option.

Can anyone help me in achieving this target without actually including the first option as part of the select tag?

Ezarras

As far as I know this is the only way to get a blank line. What do you mean you'll have to do validation? Just set a check to say if value="" then return false. – Floating

This would be a good opportunity to use radio buttons instead of a dropdown. – Catholicon

Not a weird requirement at all, in my opinion. I'm in the same boat. I need a 'no option' default, as well. I have several drop downs that aren't required to submit a form. Disabling them in this manner prevents the user from having to make a selection when it's not pertinent. Good question! +1 – Lim

Not a weird requirement, if the SELECT had a REQUIRED attribute then having a placeholder label option is a requirement of HTML5 dev.w3.org/html5/spec-preview/… – Lyris

@Catholicon radio buttons are a terrible idea if you have more than 3 or 4. Imagine a dropdown list with 15+ options, or 50 or more? Those have their own design issues in many cases but the issue still stands that radio buttons don't scale well at all. – Curve

Answer 1

Maybe this will be helpful

<select>
  <option disabled selected value> -- select an option -- </option>
  <option>Option 1</option>
  <option>Option 2</option>
  <option>Option 3</option>
</select>

-- select an option -- Will be displayed by default. But if you choose an option, you will not be able to select it back.

You can also hide it using by adding an empty option

<option style="display:none">

so it won't show up in the list anymore.

Option 2

If you don't want to write CSS and expect the same behaviour of the solution above, just use:

<option hidden disabled selected value> -- select an option -- </option>

Wholesale

Here is a JSFiddle of the above, in case anyone needs it. – Woolpack

@azerafati as @Rafael_Mori pointed out you can archieve the same by using the "hidden" attribute, so no CSS required. Just pure HTML5 ;) <option hidden disabled selected value> -- select an option -- </option> – Ratsbane

What if i want to be able to select it back? I just don't want it to send anything. Is it possible? – Outcast

adding a hidden attribute to the option element did the magic for me! did not expect it to be this easy. thanks – Brockman

Be aware, both hidden attribute and display style do not work in IE, even 11. #58862742 – Sanity

Bullseye! Perfect! – Redemptioner

What does blank value do? – Bildungsroman

<option selected disabled hidden > </option> worked for me when I output PHP REQUEST var_dump($_REQUEST); exit() ; I didn't got it the value of select name – Sowers

Nice, didn't think of using disabled on the option. Would be great if we could actually do <option>select something</option> and have the value passed as null when not specified. Very strange that the option's text is passed if the value isn't provided. – Prompter

@SebastianThomas Including value without setting it explicitly makes it true (at least in React), which is a bit hacky. TypeScript throws an error, for example, because it expects it to be of type string | number | readonly string[] | undefined. – Cigarillo

Hiding the option (both with display: none and the hidden attribute) will break accessibility with Windows Narrator in scan mode! – Macrophysics

in FF 'hiddent' doesn't hide it, but if you wanted it as "default" it also doesn't work, FF remember. i.e: if i have 2 selectboxes and I "play" with hide/show - if I chose something in select1 and then hide/show select2 - then going back to select1 - it stays on the option I chose .... so whatever solution you found - be aware and test from all angles. – Maryannamaryanne

Tiny things like this can really frustrating to deal with on server side especially when creating dynamic content. – Flatiron

In Thymeleaf you need to assign a value to value, else this error is displayed: org.thymeleaf.exceptions.TemplateProcessingException: Attribute "value" is required in "option" tags – Bamberger

In React, I used <option disabled value="" selected={!value}> Select an instrument </option>. It took me a while to figure out that selected={value===""} was not what I wanted. – Celanese

I ended up using defaultValue="" together with value="" for the placeholder because this allowed the required attribute on the select to still work. – Pare

I at first thought it wouldn't work with <select required>, but at least in Firefox 123 it tells me to "Please select one of the options" when I try to submit a form with your code in it. So, thanks! – Paniculate

Answer 2

You could use Javascript to achieve this. Try the following code:

HTML

<select id="myDropdown">      
    <option>Option 1</option>     
    <option>Option 2</option>     
    <option>Option 3</option>     
</select> 

JS

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

or JQuery

$("#myDropdown").prop("selectedIndex", -1);

Helles

This solution partially works with Chrome 35: the dropdown does not show any selection when the list of option is invisible, but shows the first option selected when the list of options is made visible. Safari 7 behaves as intended though. – Going

The interesting thing is: this works with HTML form validation. If you use the required attribute on the select element and submit without selecting an option the form validation will fail and tell you, you have to make a selection. Therefore I really like this approach. (At least tested in Chrome) – Constrict

Does not work (at least in current browsers as of this writing - and unnecessarily relies on javascript. – Linkman

As of 2019, only Safari IOS 10 refuses to play ball with this – Spotty

Answer 3

Today (2015-02-25)

This is valid HTML5 and sends a blank (not a space) to the server:

<option label=" "></option>

Verified validity on http://validator.w3.org/check

Verified behavior with Win7(IE11 IE10 IE9 IE8 FF35 Safari5.1) Ubuntu14.10(Chrome40, FF35) OSX_Yosemite(Safari8, Chrome40) Android(Samsung-Galaxy-S5)

The following also passes validation today, but passes some sort of space character to the server from most browsers (probably not desirable) and a blank on others (Chrome40/Linux passes a blank):

<option>&#160;</option>

Previously (2013-08-02)

According to my notes, the non-breaking-space entity inside the option tags shown above produced the following error in 2013:

Error: W3C Markup Validaton Service (Public): The first child option element of a select element with a required attribute and without a multiple attribute, and whose size is 1, must have either an empty value attribute, or must have no text content.

At that time, a regular space was valid XHTML4 and sent a blank (not a space) to the server from every browser:

<option> </option>

Future

It would make my heart glad if the spec was updated to explicitly allow a blank option. Preferably using the briefest syntax. Either of the following would be great:

<option />
<option></option>

Test File

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>

<head>
  <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
  <title>Test</title>
</head>

<body>
  <form action="index.html" method="post">
    <select name="sel">
      <option label=" "></option>
    </select>
  </form>
</body>

</html>

Amhara

Answer 4

<td><b>Field Label:</b><br>
    <select style='align:left; width:100%;' id='some_id' name='some_name'>
    <option hidden selected>Select one...</option>
    <option value='Value1'>OptLabel1</option>
    <option value='Value2'>OptLabel2</option>
    <option value='Value3'>OptLabel3</option></select>
</td>

Just put "hidden" on option you want to hide on dropdown list.

Dennet

Answer 5

Solution that works by only using CSS:

A: Inline CSS

<select>
    <option style="display:none;"></option>
    <option>Option 1</option>
    <option>Option 2</option>
    <option>Option 3</option>
</select>

B: CSS Style Sheet

If you have a CSS file at hand, you can target the first option using:

select.first-opt-hidden option:first-of-type {
  display:none;
}

<select class="first-opt-hidden">
    <option></option>
    <option>Option 1</option>
    <option>Option 2</option>
    <option>Option 3</option>
</select>

Enforce

Answer 6

This should help:

https://www.w3schools.com/tags/att_select_required.asp

 <form>
 <select required>
  <option value="">None</option>
  <option value="volvo">Volvo</option>
  <option value="saab">Saab</option>
  <option value="mercedes">Mercedes</option>
  <option value="audi">Audi</option>
</select>
<button type="submit">Submit</button>
</form>

Topnotch

This is the most modern (html5) way to achieve this requirement, be aware this requires a type=submit button. A type=button with a onclick submit handler doesn't automatically require the user to make a selection. – Coincident

Answer 7

Just a small remark:

some Safari browsers do not seem to respect neither the "hidden" attribute nor the style setting "display:none" (tested with Safari 12.1 under MacOS 10.12.6). Without an explicit placeholder text, these browsers simply show an empty first line in the list of options. It may therefore be useful to always provide some explanatory text for this "dummy" entry:

<option hidden disabled selected value>(select an option)</option>

Thanks to the "disabled" attribute, it won't be actively selected anyway.

Prudi

Answer 8

<select required>
  <option value="" disabled selected>None</option>
  <option value="volvo">Volvo</option>
  <option value="saab">Saab</option>
  <option value="mercedes">Mercedes</option>
  <option value="audi">Audi</option>
</select>

You can avoid custom validation in this case.

Kopaz

Answer 9

I understand what you are trying to do.The best and the most successful way is :

<select name='department' required>
   <option value="">None</option>
   <option value="Teaching">Teaching department</option>
   <option value="nonTeaching">Non-teaching department</option> 
</select>

Jeramyjerba

Answer 10

I found it really interesting because I just experienced the same thing not so long time ago. However, I came across to an example on the Internet about the solution regarding this.

Without any further ado, see the code fragment below:

<select>
 <option value data-isdefault="true">--Choose one Option--</option>
 <option>Option 1</option>
 <option>Option 2</option>
 <option>Option 3</option>
</select>

With that, it will stay un-submittable but selectable, anytime. More convenience for User Interface and great for User Experience.

Well that's all, I hope it helps. Cheers!

Superheat

Making it unable to submit but also drawing the user's attention to the dropdown seems redundant, but I like the suggestion – Mercurial

@lofacture: thanks for the input. actually, the code i wrote was the one i was wanting, but yes as you said, it depends on the needs of the user/owner – Superheat

Answer 11

There is no HTML solution. By the HTML 4.01 spec, browser behavior is undefined if none of the option elements has the selected attribute, and what browsers do in practice is that they make the first option pre-selected.

As a workaround, you could replace the select element by a set of input type=radio elements (with the same name attribute). This creates a control of the same kind though with different appearance and user interface. If none of the input type=radio elements has the checked attribute, none of them is initially selected in most modern browsers.

Upas

Answer 12

I'm using Laravel 5 framework and @Gambi `s answer worked for me as well but with some changes for my project.

I have the option values in a database table and I use them with a foreach statement. But before the statement I have added an option with @Gambit suggested settings and it worked.

Here my exemple:

@isset($keys)
  <select>
    <option  disabled selected value></option>
    @foreach($keys as $key)
      <option>{{$key->value)</option>
    @endforeach
  </select>
@endisset 

I hope this helps someone as well. Keep up the good work!

Zoosporangium

Answer 13

Try this:

<h2>Favorite color</h2>
<select name="color">
<option value=""></option>
<option>Pink</option>
<option>Red</option>
<option>Blue</option>
</select>

The first option in the drop down would be blank.

Blench

Answer 14

In order to show please select a value in drop down and hide it after some value is selected . please use the below code.

it will also support required validation.

<select class="form-control" required>
<option disabled selected value style="display:none;">--Please select a value</option>
              <option >Data 1</option>
              <option >Data 2</option>
              <option >Data 3</option>
</select>

Cohobate

Answer 15

If you are using Angular (2+), (or any other framework), you could add some logic. The logic would be: only display an empty option if the user did not select any other yet. So after the user selected an option, the empty option disappears.

For Angular (9) this would look something like this:

<select>
    <option *ngIf="(hasOptionSelected$ | async) === false"></option>
    <option *ngFor="let option of (options$ | async)[value]="option.id">{{ option.title }}</option>
</select>

Chignon

Answer 16

For those who are using <select multiple> (combobox; no dropdown), this worked for me:

<select size=1 disabled multiple>
  <option hidden selected></option>
  <option>My Option</option>
</select>

Sandhi

Answer 17

If you don't need any empty option at first, try this first line:

    <option style="display:none"></option>

Lanni

Answer 18

just use "..option hidden selected.." as default option

Donaldson

Answer 19

I guess a good idea would be to use the radio buttons, set #1 as default and hide it, give it for example a name="init" and a value="null" or whatever, up to you!

this way the radio buttons list has a value definitely, but default of null can be used logically!

I think it's not necessary to elaborate further, since the idea can easily be implemented with display: none; or visibility: hidden;

... whereas I think the first one display: none; is the better option:

Kassel

Answer 20

In react, you can give a dummy value (say -1) with select tag as below and same value can be used with this disabled option of yours. (WORKED FOR ME)

const nonEmpty = selected[identifierField] || false;

<select
    onChange={(e) => {
      onSelect(
        options.find((option) => option[identifierField] === e.target.value)
      );
    }}
    value={nonEmpty || -1}
  >
    <option disabled value={-1}>Select Option</option>
    {options.map((option) => (
      <option key={option[identifierField]} value={option[identifierField]}>
        {option[displayField]}
      </option>
    ))}
  </select>

Tropicalize

Answer 21

option style="display:none"

Is bad solution for Tablet: iPad Pro / iOS 15 / Safari An unnecessary row in the dropdown appears, only for real devices. Doesn`t reproduce on the emulator.

Yadirayaeger

Answer 22

Try this:

<select>
    <option value="">&nbsp;
    <option>Option 1
    <option>Option 2
    <option>Option 3
</select>

Validates in HTML5. Works with required attribute in select element. Can be re-selected. Works in Google Chrome 45, Internet Explorer 11, Edge, Firefox 41.

Moseley