Range: selectNodeContents() 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 Range.selectNodeContents() method sets the Range to contain the contents of a Node.

The parent Node of the start and end of the Range will be the reference node. The startOffset is 0, and the endOffset is the number of child Nodes or number of characters contained in the reference node.

Syntax

js
selectNodeContents(referenceNode)

Parameters

referenceNode

The Node whose contents will be selected within a Range.

Return value

None (undefined).

Examples

js
const range = document.createRange();
const referenceNode = document.querySelector("div");
range.selectNodeContents(referenceNode);

Live sample

This example lets the user select and deselect a paragraph with buttons. Document.createRange(), Range.selectNodeContents(), and Selection.addRange() are used to select the content. Window.getSelection() and Selection.removeAllRanges() are used to deselect it.

HTML

html
<p id="p">
  <strong>Use the buttons below</strong> to select or deselect the contents of
  this paragraph.
</p>
<button id="select-button">Select paragraph</button>
<button id="deselect-button">Deselect paragraph</button>

JavaScript

js
const p = document.getElementById("p");
const selectButton = document.getElementById("select-button");
const deselectButton = document.getElementById("deselect-button");

selectButton.addEventListener("click", (e) => {
  // Clear any current selection
  const selection = window.getSelection();
  selection.removeAllRanges();

  // Select paragraph
  const range = document.createRange();
  range.selectNodeContents(p);
  selection.addRange(range);
});

deselectButton.addEventListener("click", (e) => {
  const selection = window.getSelection();
  selection.removeAllRanges();
});

Result

Specifications

Specification
DOM Standard
# dom-range-selectnodecontents

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also