:text Selector

Categories: Selectors > Form | Selectors > jQuery Extensions

text selector

Description: Selects all input elements of type text.

  • version added: 1.0jQuery( ":text" )

$( ":text" ) allows us to select all <input type="text"> elements. As with other pseudo-class selectors (those that begin with a ":") it is recommended to precede it with a tag name or some other selector; otherwise, the universal selector ( "*" ) is implied. In other words, the bare $( ":text" ) is equivalent to $( "*:text" ), so $( "input:text" ) should be used instead.

Note: As of jQuery 1.5.2, :text selects input elements that have no specified type attribute (in which case type="text" is implied).

This difference in behavior between $( ":text" ) and $( "[type=text]" ), can be seen below:

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$( "<input>" ).is( "[type=text]" ); // false
$( "<input>" ).is( ":text" ); // true

Additional Notes:

  • Because :text is a jQuery extension and not part of the CSS specification, queries using :text cannot take advantage of the performance boost provided by the native DOM querySelectorAll() method. For better performance in modern browsers, use [type="text"] instead.

Example:

Finds all text inputs.

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<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <title>text demo</title>
  <style>
  textarea {
    height: 25px;
  }
  </style>
  <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.7.1.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
 
<form>
  <input type="button" value="Input Button">
  <input type="checkbox">
  <input type="file">
  <input type="hidden">
  <input type="image">
  <input type="password">
  <input type="radio">
  <input type="reset">
  <input type="submit">
  <input type="text">
  <select>
    <option>Option</option>
  </select>
  <textarea></textarea>
  <button>Button</button>
</form>
<div></div>
 
<script>
var input = $( "form input:text" ).css( {
  background: "yellow",
  border: "3px red solid"
} );
 
$( "div" )
  .text( "For this type jQuery found " + input.length + "." )
  .css( "color", "red" );
 
// Prevent form submission
$( "form" ).on( "submit", function( event ) {
  event.preventDefault();
} );
</script>
 
</body>
</html>

Demo: