1422

Usually I use $("#id").val() to return the value of the selected option, but this time it doesn't work. The selected tag has the id aioConceptName

html code

<label for="name">Name</label>
<input type="text" name="name" id="name" />

<label for="aioConceptName">AIO Concept Name</label>
<select id="aioConceptName">
    <option>choose io</option>
    <option>roma</option>
    <option>totti</option>
</select>
10
  • 2
    could you show the markup of element #aioConceptName
    – Jorge
    Commented May 18, 2012 at 20:13
  • 2
    it's strange because works on this example jsfiddle.net/pAtVP, are you sure that the event it fires in your enviorment?
    – Jorge
    Commented May 18, 2012 at 20:30
  • 6
    possible duplicate of jQuery: Get selected option from dropdown Commented Aug 21, 2013 at 15:54
  • 13
    A late thought, but .val() won't work unless you set the value attribute on those <option>s, right? Commented Oct 26, 2013 at 16:38
  • 9
    Recent versions of jQuery (tested with 1.9.1) have no issues with this markup. For the above example, $("#aioConceptName").val() returns choose io. Commented Feb 8, 2015 at 14:44

37 Answers 37

2311

For dropdown options you probably want something like this:

For selected text

var conceptName = $('#aioConceptName').find(":selected").text();

For selected value

var conceptName = $('#aioConceptName').find(":selected").val();

The reason val() doesn't do the trick is because clicking an option doesn't change the value of the dropdown--it just adds the :selected property to the selected option which is a child of the dropdown.

17
  • 52
    Ah, okay, you've updated your question with HTML. This answer is now irrelevant. As a matter of fact, .val() should work in your case-- you must have an error elsewhere. Commented May 18, 2012 at 20:17
  • 15
    for the val() why not use var conceptVal = $("#aioConceptName option").filter(":selected").val();?
    – Tester
    Commented Aug 6, 2013 at 21:19
  • 90
    How about a simpler var conceptVal = $("#aioConceptName option:selected").val()? Commented Nov 22, 2013 at 11:53
  • 7
    I still found this helpful for finding the selected option in a select where I've obtained the dropdown previously -- e.g., var mySelect = $('#mySelect'); /* ... more code happens ... */ var selectedText = mySelect.find(':selected').text(); Commented Jul 10, 2014 at 21:34
  • 28
    Actually the reason .val() isn't working for him is because he didn't actually give his options a value, which is why he has to use your method to retrieve the selected text, so another fix would've been to change <option>choose io</option> to <option value='choose io'>choose io</option> Although your solution is probably quicker and more practical, I figured I'd state this anyways so he has a better understanding of why it wasn't working for him. Commented Mar 23, 2016 at 23:14
430

Set the values for each of the options

<label for="aioConceptName">AIO Concept Name</label>
<select id="aioConceptName">
    <option value="0">choose io</option>
    <option value="1">roma</option>
    <option value="2">totti</option>
</select>

$('#aioConceptName').val() didn't work because .val() returns the value attribute. To have it work properly, the value attributes must be set on each <option>.

Now you can call $('#aioConceptName').val() instead of all this :selected voodoo being suggested by others.

5
  • 16
    Caveat: if no option is selected, $('#aioConceptName').val() returns null/"undefined"
    – gordon
    Commented Feb 24, 2014 at 18:47
  • This assured me that $('#myselect').val() was correct I'd just dumbly forgotten to give the select an id!
    – zzapper
    Commented Jun 30, 2014 at 17:19
  • 4
    One of my select options is a special prompt option <option>Please select an option</option>. In my case it wasn't a problem to add a blank value attribute <option value="">Please...</option> but I believe in some cases not having a value attribute makes sense. But +1 because your vodoo wording made me smile. Commented Apr 11, 2016 at 22:31
  • Isn't val() select the value instead of the text inside the option? I.e. it selects 1 instead of roma.
    – deathlock
    Commented Oct 29, 2017 at 17:31
  • 4
    @deathlock That's the whole point of .val(). If you are looking to manipulate/use the text, use $(":selected).text() or set the value and the text to be the same. Commented Oct 29, 2017 at 19:41
208

I stumbled across this question and developed a more concise version of Elliot BOnneville's answer:

var conceptName = $('#aioConceptName :selected').text();

or generically:

$('#id :pseudoclass')

This saves you an extra jQuery call, selects everything in one shot, and is more clear (my opinion).

6
  • 1
    @JohnConde The accepted answer on Meta disagrees with you: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/87678/… . In my opinion, Ed has given a good answer and just provided some extra reference.
    – itsbruce
    Commented Nov 1, 2012 at 17:38
  • They can allow it but it's still a bad resource
    – John Conde
    Commented Nov 1, 2012 at 17:41
  • 1
    Removed the w3schools link, it wasn't strictly necessary and a Google search for "jQuery pseduo classes" provides plenty of information.
    – Ed Orsi
    Commented Nov 1, 2012 at 17:45
  • @EdOrsi: While it saves an extra jQuery call, it prevents from taking taking advantage of the performance boost provided by the native DOM querySelectorAll() method (see jQuery docs). So, it should be slower than the Eliot's solution. Commented Nov 30, 2015 at 14:56
  • I'd probably favor using .find(':selected') as then it allows you do call it from a callback attached to an event... like $('#aioConceptname').bind('change', function(el) { console.log ( $(el).find(':selected').text() ); }); Commented Dec 9, 2017 at 6:08
73

Try this for value...

$("select#id_of_select_element option").filter(":selected").val();

or this for text...

$("select#id_of_select_element option").filter(":selected").text();
2
  • When use multi select dropdown it only get first value Commented Feb 10, 2021 at 4:34
  • @ThimiraPathirana In that case you just get rid of the "option" word from the query. Commented Feb 10, 2021 at 12:12
68

If you are in event context, in jQuery, you can retrieve the selected option element using :
$(this).find('option:selected') like this :

$('dropdown_selector').change(function() {
    //Use $option (with the "$") to see that the variable is a jQuery object
    var $option = $(this).find('option:selected');
    //Added with the EDIT
    var value = $option.val();//to get content of "value" attrib
    var text = $option.text();//to get <option>Text</option> content
});

Edit

As mentioned by PossessWithin, My answer just answer to the question : How to select selected "Option".

Next, to get the option value, use option.val().

3
  • 4
    Flawless! Just do not forget you should add $(this).find('option:selected').val() at the end to get the value of the option element, or $(this).find('option:selected').text() to get the text. :) Commented May 12, 2017 at 15:45
  • The most elegant and simple answer.
    – andreszs
    Commented Jul 30, 2022 at 14:03
  • These days, you could add "event" as a parameter for that anonymous function, and then get the value of the select list on change using "event.target.value"
    – D. Cook
    Commented Sep 28, 2022 at 1:30
40

Have you considered using plain old javascript?

var box = document.getElementById('aioConceptName');

conceptName = box.options[box.selectedIndex].text;

See also Getting an option text/value with JavaScript

1
  • 1
    ˗1 not enough jQuery
    – hanshenrik
    Commented Jul 21, 2021 at 17:43
36
$('#aioConceptName option:selected').val();
1
  • 3
    This is best answer of all, wish there was a way at stack overflow to request to show up the correct answers at the top.
    – Smitt
    Commented Mar 21, 2021 at 19:26
21

With JQuery:

  1. If you want to get the selected option text, you can use $(select element).text().

    var text = $('#aioConceptName option:selected').text();

  2. If you want to get selected option value, you can use $(select element).val().

    var val = $('#aioConceptName option:selected').val();

    Make sure to set value attribute in <option> tag, like:

    <select id="aioConceptName">
      <option value="">choose io</option>
      <option value="roma(value)">roma(text)</option>
      <option value="totti(value)">totti(text)</option>
    </select>
    

With this HTML code sample, assuming last option is selected:

  1. var text will give you totti(text)
  2. var val will give you totti(value)

$(document).on('change','#aioConceptName' ,function(){
  var val = $('#aioConceptName option:selected').val();
  var text = $('#aioConceptName option:selected').text();
  $('.result').text("Select Value = " + val);
  $('.result').append("<br>Select Text = " + text);
})
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<select id="aioConceptName">
 <option value="io(value)">choose io</option>
 <option value="roma(value)">roma(text)</option>
 <option value="totti(value)">totti(text)</option>
</select>

<p class="result"></p>

20

For good practice you need to use val() to get value of selected options not text().

<label>Name</label>
<input type="text" name="name" />
<select id="aioConceptName">
    <option value="choose">choose io</option>
</select>

You can use

   $("#aioConceptName").find(':selected').val();

Or

   $("#aioConceptName :selected").val();
18

Reading the value (not the text) of a select:

var status = $("#Status").val();
var status = $("#Status")[0].value;
var status = $('#Status option:selected').val();

How to disable a select? in both variants, value can be changed using:

A

User can not interact with the dropdown. And he doesn't know what other options might exists.

$('#Status').prop('disabled', true);

B

User can see the options in the dropdown but all of them are disabled:

$('#Status option').attr('disabled', true);

In this case, $("#Status").val() will only work for jQuery versions smaller than 1.9.0. All other variants will work.

How to update a disabled select?

From code behind you can still update the value in your select. It is disabled only for users:

$("#Status").val(2);

In some cases you might need to fire events:

$("#Status").val(2).change();
1
  • When use multi select dropdown it only get first value Commented Feb 10, 2021 at 4:34
15

you should use this syntax:

var value = $('#Id :selected').val();

So try this Code:

var values = $('#aioConceptName :selected').val();

you can test in Fiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/PJT6r/9/

see about this answer in this post

14

to find correct selections with jQuery consider multiple selections can be available in html trees and confuse your expected output.

(:selected).val() or (:selected).text() will not work correct on multiple select options. So we keep an array of all selections first like .map() could do and then return the desired argument or text.

The following example illustrates those problems and offers a better approach

<select id="form-s" multiple="multiple">
    <option selected>city1</option>
    <option selected value="c2">city2</option>
    <option value="c3">city3</option>
</select>   
<select id="aioConceptName">
    <option value="s1" selected >choose io</option>
    <option value="s2">roma </option>
    <option value="s3">totti</option>
</select>
<select id="test">
    <option value="s4">paloma</option>
    <option value="s5" selected >foo</option>
    <option value="s6">bar</option>
</select>
<script>
$('select').change(function() {
    var a=$(':selected').text(); // "city1city2choose iofoo"
    var b=$(':selected').val();  // "city1" - selects just first query !
    //but..
    var c=$(':selected').map(function(){ // ["city1","city2","choose io","foo"]
        return $(this).text();
    }); 
    var d=$(':selected').map(function(){ // ["city1","c2","s1","s5"]
        return $(this).val();
    });
    console.log(a,b,c,d);
});
</script>

see the different bug prone output in variant a, b compared to correctly working c & d that keep all selections in an array and then return what you look for.

0
13

Using jQuery, just add a change event and get selected value or text within that handler.

If you need selected text, please use this code:

$("#aioConceptName").change(function () {
    alert($("#aioConceptName :selected").text())
});

Or if you need selected value, please use this code:

$("#aioConceptName").change(function () {
    alert($("#aioConceptName :selected").attr('value'))
});
13

Just this should work:

var conceptName = $('#aioConceptName').val();

$(function() {
  $('#aioConceptName').on('change', function(event) {
    console.log(event.type + " event with:", $(this).val());
    $(this).prev('input').val($(this).val());
  });
});
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<label>Name</label>
<input type="text" name="name" />
<select id="aioConceptName">
  <option>choose io</option>
  <option>roma</option>
  <option>totti</option>
</select>

1
  • added snippet as proof of concept for this Commented Mar 18, 2022 at 21:55
12

For anyone who found out that best answer don't work.

Try to use:

  $( "#aioConceptName option:selected" ).attr("value");

Works for me in recent projects so it is worth to look on it.

1
  • This was helpful for me to differentiate check for an option with no value
    – wouch
    Commented Jun 11 at 16:44
10

Use the jQuery.val() function for select elements, too:

The .val() method is primarily used to get the values of form elements such as input, select and textarea. In the case of select elements, it returns null when no option is selected and an array containing the value of each selected option when there is at least one and it is possible to select more because the multiple attribute is present.

$(function() {
  $("#aioConceptName").on("change", function() {
    $("#debug").text($("#aioConceptName").val());
  }).trigger("change");
});
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.9.1/jquery.min.js"></script>

<select id="aioConceptName">
  <option>choose io</option>
  <option>roma</option>
  <option>totti</option>
</select>
<div id="debug"></div>

10

Straight forward and pretty easy:

Your dropdown

<select id="aioConceptName">
    <option>choose io</option>
    <option>roma</option>
    <option>totti</option>
</select>

Jquery code to get the selected value

$('#aioConceptName').change(function() {
    var $option = $(this).find('option:selected');

    //Added with the EDIT
    var value = $option.val(); //returns the value of the selected option.
    var text = $option.text(); //returns the text of the selected option.
});
10

For get value of tag selected:

 $('#id_Of_Parent_Selected_Tag').find(":selected").val();

And if you want to get text use this code:

 $('#id_Of_Parent_Selected_Tag').find(":selected").text();

For Example:

<div id="i_am_parent_of_select_tag">
<select>
        <option value="1">CR7</option>
        <option value="2">MESSI</option>
</select>
</div>


<script>
 $('#i_am_parent_of_select_tag').find(":selected").val();//OUTPUT:1 OR 2
 $('#i_am_parent_of_select_tag').find(":selected").text();//OUTPUT:CR7 OR MESSI
</script>
5

You can try to debug it this way:

console.log($('#aioConceptName option:selected').val())
5

I hope this also helps to understand better and helps try this below,

$('select[id="aioConceptName[]"] option:selected').each(function(key,value){
   options2[$(this).val()] = $(this).text();
   console.log(JSON.stringify(options2));
});

to more details please http://www.drtuts.com/get-value-multi-select-dropdown-without-value-attribute-using-jquery/

4

If you want to grab the 'value' attribute instead of the text node, this will work for you:

var conceptName = $('#aioConceptName').find(":selected").attr('value');
1
  • This is only partially a solution - it is also necessary to set the value for each option - this is already covered by Jacob Valetta's answer
    – David
    Commented Oct 27, 2016 at 0:42
4

Here is the simple solution for this issue.

$("select#aioConceptName").change(function () {
           var selectedaioConceptName = $('#aioConceptName').find(":selected").val();;
           console.log(selectedaioConceptName);
        });
1
  • 1
    var selectedaioConceptName = $('#aioConceptName option:selected').val(); is better than use another find()
    – Sadee
    Commented May 20, 2020 at 22:46
4

You many try this:

var ioConceptName = $('#ioConceptName option:selected').text(); 
3

try to this one

$(document).ready(function() {

    $("#name option").filter(function() {
        return $(this).val() == $("#firstname").val();
    }).attr('selected', true);

    $("#name").live("change", function() {

        $("#firstname").val($(this).find("option:selected").attr("value"));
    });
});


<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.3.0/jquery.min.js"></script>
<select id="name" name="name"> 
<option value="">Please select...</option> 
<option value="Elvis">Elvis</option> 
<option value="Frank">Frank</option> 
<option value="Jim">Jim</option> 
</select>

<input type="text" id="firstname" name="firstname" value="Elvis" readonly="readonly">
3
$('nameofDropDownList').prop('selectedIndex', whateverNumberasInt);

Imagine the DDL as an array with indexes, you are selecting one index. Choose the one which you want to set it to with your JS.

0
2

You can use $("#drpList").val();

1
  • 3
    You were right; however, he related to the text, the question is wrong. Commented Jan 23, 2018 at 10:47
2

to fetch a select with same class= name you could do this, to check if a select option is selected.

var bOK = true;
$('.optKategorien').each(function(index,el){
    if($(el).find(":selected").text() == "") {
        bOK = false;
    }
});
2

I had the same issue and I figured out why it was not working on my case
The html page was divided into different html fragments and I found that I have another input field that carries the same Id of the select, which caused the val() to be always empty
I hope this saves the day for anyone who have similar issue.

1
  • Indeed, this woke me to my problem. I was myself using qty-field in the data-target and.. qty_field in the id itself. Always check the basics twice or more.
    – cdsaenz
    Commented May 31, 2020 at 18:20
2

Try

aioConceptName.selectedOptions[0].value

let val = aioConceptName.selectedOptions[0].value

console.log('selected value:',val);
<label>Name</label>
<input type="text" name="name" />
<select id="aioConceptName">
    <option>choose io</option>
    <option>roma</option>
    <option>totti</option>
</select>

1
  • this vanilla js, question asked specifically for jQuery solution.
    – Aurovrata
    Commented Feb 17, 2021 at 11:05
2

There is only one correct way to find selected option - by option value attribute. So take the simple code:

//find selected option
$select = $("#mySelect");
$selectedOption = $select.find( "option[value=" + $select.val() + "]" );
//get selected option text
console.log( $selectedOption.text() );

So if you have list like this:

<select id="#mySelect" >
  <option value="value1" >First option</option>
  <option value="value2" >Second option</option>
  <option value="value3" selected >Third option</option>
</select>

If you use selected attribute for option, then find(":selected") will give incorrect result because selected attribute will stay at option forever, even user selects another option.

Even if user will selects first or second option, the result of $("select option:selected") will give two elements! So $("select :selected").text() will give a result like "First option Third option"

So use value attribute selector and don't forget to set value attribute for all options!

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