The getSelection() method of the Document interface returns a Selection object representing the range of text selected by the user, or the current position of the caret.
Document: getSelection() method
Syntax
js
getSelection()
Parameters
None.
Return value
A Selection object.
Examples
Getting a Selection object
js
let selection = document.getSelection();
let selRange = selection.getRangeAt(0);
// do stuff with the range
console.log(selection); // Selection object
String representation of the Selection object
Some functions (like Window.alert()) call toString() automatically and the returned value is passed to the function. As a consequence, this will return the selected text and not the Selection object:
js
alert(selection);
However, not all functions call toString() automatically. To use a Selection object as a string, call its toString() method directly:
js
let selectedText = selection.toString();
Related objects
You can call Window.getSelection(), which works identically to Document.getSelection().
It is worth noting that currently getSelection() doesn't work on the content of <input> elements in Firefox. HTMLInputElement.setSelectionRange()) 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-document-getselection |
Browser compatibility
| Desktop | Mobile | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome | Edge | Firefox | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari | WebView Android | Chrome Android | Firefox for Android | Opera Android | Safari on IOS | Samsung Internet | |
getSelection |
2 | 12 | 1 | 9 | ≤12.1 | 4 | ≤37 | 18 | 4 | ≤12.1 | 3.2 | 1.0 |
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https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Document/getSelection