:text Selector


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-3.7.0.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: