Selection: containsNode() method

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 Selection.containsNode() method indicates whether a specified node is part of the selection.

Syntax

containsNode(node)
containsNode(node)
containsNode(node, partialContainment)

Parameters

node: The node that is being looked for in the selection.
partialContainment Optional: When true, containsNode() returns true when a part of the node is part of the selection. When false, containsNode() only returns true when the entire node is part of the selection. If not specified, the default value false is used.

Return value

Returns true if the given node is part of the selection, and false otherwise.

Examples

Check for selection

This snippet checks whether anything inside the body element is selected.

console.log(window.getSelection().containsNode(document.body, true));

Find the hidden word

In this example, a message appears when you select the secret word. It uses addEventListener() to check for selectionchange events.

HTML

html

<p>Can you find the secret word?</p>
<p>Hmm, where <span id="secret">SECRET</span> could it be?</p>
<p id="win" hidden>You found it!</p>

CSS

css

#secret {
  color: transparent;
}

JavaScript

const secret = document.getElementById("secret");
const win = document.getElementById("win");

// Listen for selection changes
document.addEventListener("selectionchange", () => {
  const selection = window.getSelection();
  const found = selection.containsNode(secret);

  win.toggleAttribute("hidden", !found);
});

Result

Specifications

Specification
Selection API # dom-selection-containsnode

Browser compatibility

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This page was last modified on ⁨Jun 11, 2025⁩ by MDN contributors.

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