user-select

The user-select CSS property controls whether the user can select text. This doesn't have any effect on content loaded as chrome, except in textboxes.

/* Keyword values */
user-select: none;
user-select: auto;
user-select: text;
user-select: contain;
user-select: all;

/* Global values */
user-select: inherit;
user-select: initial;
user-select: unset;

/* Mozilla-specific values */
-moz-user-select: none;
-moz-user-select: text;
-moz-user-select: all;

/* WebKit-specific values */
-webkit-user-select: none;
-webkit-user-select: text;
-webkit-user-select: all; /* Doesn't work in Safari; use only
                             "none" or "text", or else it will
                             allow typing in the <html> container */

/* Microsoft-specific values */
-ms-user-select: none;
-ms-user-select: text;
-ms-user-select: element;

Initial value	`auto`
Applies to	all elements
Inherited	no
Computed value	as specified
Animation type	discrete

Note: user-select is not an inherited property, though the initial auto value makes it behave like it is inherited most of the time. WebKit/Chromium-based browsers do implement the property as inherited, which violates the behavior described in the spec, and this will bring some issues. Until now, Chromium chooses to fix the issues, make the final behavior meets the specifications.

Syntax

none

The text of the element and its sub-elements is not selectable. Note that the Selection object can contain these elements.

auto

The used value of auto is determined as follows:

On the ::before and ::after pseudo elements, the used value is none
If the element is an editable element, the used value is contain
Otherwise, if the used value of user-select on the parent of this element is all, the used value is all
Otherwise, if the used value of user-select on the parent of this element is none, the used value is none
Otherwise, the used value is text

text

The text can be selected by the user.

all

The content of the element shall be selected atomically: If a selection would contain part of the element, then the selection must contain the entire element including all its descendants. If a double-click or context-click occurred in sub-elements, the highest ancestor with this value will be selected.

contain

Enables selection to start within the element; however, the selection will be contained by the bounds of that element.

element (IE-specific alias)

Same as contain. Supported only in Internet Explorer.

Note: CSS UI 4 renames user-select: element to contain.

Formal syntax

auto | text | none | contain | all

Examples

HTML

<p>You should be able to select this text.</p>
<p class="unselectable">Hey, you can't select this text!</p>
<p class="all">Clicking once will select all of this text.</p>

CSS

.unselectable {
  -moz-user-select: none;
  -webkit-user-select: none;
  -ms-user-select: none;
  user-select: none;
}

.all {
  -moz-user-select: all;
  -webkit-user-select: all;
  -ms-user-select: all;
  user-select: all;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
CSS Basic User Interface Module Level 4 The definition of 'user-select' in that specification.	Working Draft	Initial definition. Also defines `-webkit-user-select` as a deprecated alias of `user-select`.

Browser compatibility

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
`user-select`	Chrome Full support 54 Full support 54 Full support 1 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	Edge Full support 12 Prefixed Full support 12 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -ms- Full support 12 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	Firefox Full support 69 Full support 69 Full support 1 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -moz- Full support 49 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- Full support 44 Prefixed Disabled Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- Disabled From version 44: this feature is behind the `layout.css.prefixes.webkit` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	IE Full support 10 Prefixed Full support 10 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -ms-	Opera Full support 15 Prefixed Full support 15 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	Safari Full support 3 Prefixed Full support 3 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- No support 2 — 3 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -khtml-	WebView Android Full support 54 Full support 54 Full support ≤37 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	Chrome Android Full support 54 Full support 54 Full support 18 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	Firefox Android Full support 4 Prefixed Full support 4 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -moz- Full support 49 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- Full support 44 Prefixed Disabled Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit- Disabled From version 44: this feature is behind the `layout.css.prefixes.webkit` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	Opera Android Full support 14 Prefixed Full support 14 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	Safari iOS Full support 3 Prefixed Full support 3 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-	Samsung Internet Android Full support 6.0 Full support 6.0 Full support 1.0 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -webkit-
`all`	Chrome Full support 53	Edge Full support 79	Firefox Full support 1	IE No support No	Opera Full support 40	Safari No support No	WebView Android Full support 53	Chrome Android Full support 53	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support 41	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android Full support 6.0
`auto`	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 1	IE Full support 10	Opera Full support 15	Safari Full support 2	WebView Android Full support ≤37	Chrome Android Full support 18	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support 14	Safari iOS Full support 3	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
`contain`	Chrome No support No	Edge No support 12 — 79 Alternate Name No support 12 — 79 Alternate Name Alternate Name Uses the non-standard name: `element`	Firefox No support No	IE Full support 10 Alternate Name Full support 10 Alternate Name Alternate Name Uses the non-standard name: `element`	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android No support No	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
`none`	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 21 Full support 21 No support 1 — 65 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -moz-	IE Full support 10	Opera Full support 15	Safari Full support 2	WebView Android Full support ≤37	Chrome Android Full support 18	Firefox Android Full support 21 Full support 21 No support 4 — 65 Prefixed Prefixed Implemented with the vendor prefix: -moz-	Opera Android Full support 14	Safari iOS Full support 3	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
`text`	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 1	IE Full support 10	Opera Full support 15	Safari Partial support 2 Notes Partial support 2 Notes Notes Allows typing in the `<html>` container.	WebView Android Full support ≤37	Chrome Android Full support 18	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support 14	Safari iOS Partial support 3 Notes Partial support 3 Notes Notes Allows typing in the `<html>` container.	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0

Legend

Full support: Full support
Partial support: Partial support
No support: No support
See implementation notes.: See implementation notes.
User must explicitly enable this feature.: User must explicitly enable this feature.
Uses a non-standard name.: Uses a non-standard name.
Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.: Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.