Window: getSelection() method

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since March 2017.

The getSelection() method of the Window interface returns the Selection object associated with the window's document, representing the range of text selected by the user or the current position of the caret.

Syntax

js
getSelection()

Parameters

None.

Return value

A Selection object, or null if the associated document has no browsing context (for example, the window is an <iframe> that is not attached to a document).

When called on an <iframe> that is not displayed (e.g., where display: none is set) Firefox returns null, whereas other browsers returns a Selection object with Selection.type set to None.

Examples

js
function foo() {
  const selObj = window.getSelection();
  alert(selObj);
  const selRange = selObj.getRangeAt(0);
  // do stuff with the range
}

Notes

String representation of the Selection object

In JavaScript, when an object is passed to a function expecting a string (like window.alert() or document.write()), the object's toString() method is called and the returned value is passed to the function. This can make the object appear to be a string when used with other functions when it is really an object with properties and methods.

In the above example, selObj.toString() is automatically called when it is passed to window.alert(). However, attempting to use a JavaScript String property or method such as length or substr directly on a Selection object will result in an error if it does not have that property or method and may return unexpected results if it does. To use a Selection object as a string, call its toString() method directly:

js
const selectedText = selObj.toString();
  • selObj is a Selection object.
  • selectedText is a string (Selected text).

You can call Document.getSelection(), which works identically to Window.getSelection().

It is worth noting that currently getSelection() doesn't work on the content of <textarea> and <input> elements in Firefox and Edge (Legacy). HTMLInputElement.setSelectionRange() or the selectionStart and selectionEnd properties could be used to work around this.

Notice also the difference between selection and focus. Document.activeElement returns the focused element.

Specifications

Specification
Selection API
# dom-window-getselection

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also