user-select
The user-select
CSS property controls whether the user can select text. This doesn't have any effect on content loaded as part of a browser's user interface (its chrome), except in textboxes.
Try it
Syntax
css
/* 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: revert;
user-select: revert-layer;
user-select: unset;
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 has chosen to fix the issues to make the final behavior meet the specifications.
Values
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 isnone
- 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 isall
, the used value isall
- Otherwise, if the used value of
user-select
on the parent of this element isnone
, the used value isnone
- Otherwise, the used value is
text
- On the
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.
Note: CSS UI 4 renamed the
element
value tocontain
.
Formal definition
Initial value | auto |
---|---|
Applies to | all elements |
Inherited | no |
Computed value | as specified |
Animation type | discrete |
Formal syntax
Examples
HTML
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
css
.unselectable {
-webkit-user-select: none; /* Safari */
user-select: none;
}
.all {
-webkit-user-select: all;
user-select: all;
}
Result
Specifications
Specification |
---|
CSS Basic User Interface Module Level 4 # content-selection |
Browser compatibility
BCD tables only load in the browser
See also
- Polyfill for
user-select: contain
::selection
pseudo-element- The JavaScript
Selection
object