Set the select option as blank as default in HTML select element

html

responsive-design

best-practices

accessibility

byAnton Shumikhin·Nov 4, 2024

Expose a blank state in your <select> upon page load with a JavaScript trick. Insert this after your <select> HTML as such:

document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', () => {
  let selector = document.querySelector('select'); 
  selector.selectedIndex = -1; // Like Kanye's ego, selected index to be "nonexistent"
});

Couple this JavaScript code with your HTML <select>:

<select>
  <option>Option 1</option>
  <option>Option 2</option>
  <!-- Room for all your extra options -->
</select>

This command deselects default selection, confirming a blank slate for users.

Using placeholders to guide users

You can improve user experience by using a placeholder. Here, we add disabled, selected, and value attributes to create a default hint which is not selectable.

<select>
  <option disabled selected value>-- Jedi mind trick: select an option --</option>
  <option value="opt1">Option 1</option>
  <option value="opt2">Option 2</option>
</select>

Styling placeholders

To keep the interface clean, you can style your placeholders to hide them after user makes a selection. Apply a custom class to your <select> element and use a CSS rule to target it:

.valuable-select option:first-of-type {
  display: none; // Hide and seek: You're IT!
}

Now you can apply this class to our select:

<select class="valuable-select">
  <option selected style="display:none;">Placeholder</option>
  <!-- Everyone's invited: add your options here -->
</select>

Ensuring accessibility and HTML standards

Prioritize accessibility and HTML standard adherence to invite all users and reassure all browsers:

<select>
  <option hidden disabled selected value> </option>
  <!-- Don't be shy: add your options here -->
</select>

Validate this with W3C Markup Validation Service for a standards-approved blanket.

Without JavaScript: Falling back to pure HTML

For cases where JavaScript won't work, we can still set an empty default value with the hidden attribute and selected:

<select>
  <option hidden selected value=""></option>
  <!-- More options? Add to cart right here -->
</select>

Or, for stricter HTML5 compliance, you could use <option label=" "></option> to provide an empty but valid option.

Advanced form design for UX victory

When JavaScript is an option

In dynamic forms where JavaScript is allowed, set the placeholder with the selectedIndex property:

// Try this in a script after the select element or window load event
document.querySelector('.valuable-select').selectedIndex = -1; // Who? Me? Nope, I'm just a default!

Future-proof forms are a form of art

Embrace best practices and champion standards promoting interactive, user-friendly forms.

<select>
  <option></option>
  <!-- Now that's some clean code! -->
</select>

Watch for potential stumbling blocks

Look out for inconsistencies like  , these can behave differently across browsers. They aren't as reliable as we'd wish for a white void.

explain-codes / Html / Set the select option as blank as default in HTML select element

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Using placeholders to guide users Styling placeholders Ensuring accessibility and HTML standards Without JavaScript: Falling back to pure HTML Advanced form design for UX victory