default select option as blank

Html Problem Overview

I have a very weird requirement, wherein I am required to have no option selected by default in drop down menu in HTML. However,

I cannot use this,

<select>
  <option></option>
  <option>Option 1</option>
  <option>Option 2</option>
  <option>Option 3</option>
</select>

Because, for this I will have to do validation to handle the first option. Can anyone help me in achieving this target without actually including the first option as part of the select tag?

Html Solutions

Solution 1 - Html

Maybe this will be helpful

<select>
    <option disabled selected value> -- select an option -- </option>
    <option>Option 1</option>
    <option>Option 2</option>
    <option>Option 3</option>
</select>

-- select an option -- Will be displayed by default. But if you choose an option, you will not be able to select it back.

You can also hide it using by adding an empty option

<option style="display:none">

so it won't show up in the list anymore.

Option 2

If you don't want to write CSS and expect the same behaviour of the solution above, just use:

<option hidden disabled selected value> -- select an option -- </option>

Solution 2 - Html

You could use Javascript to achieve this. Try the following code:

HTML

<select id="myDropdown">      
    <option>Option 1</option>     
    <option>Option 2</option>     
    <option>Option 3</option>     
</select>

document.getElementById("myDropdown").selectedIndex = -1;

or JQuery

$("#myDropdown").prop("selectedIndex", -1);

Solution 3 - Html

Today (2015-02-25)

This is valid HTML5 and sends a blank (not a space) to the server:

<option label=" "></option>

Verified validity on http://validator.w3.org/check

Verified behavior with Win7(IE11 IE10 IE9 IE8 FF35 Safari5.1) Ubuntu14.10(Chrome40, FF35) OSX_Yosemite(Safari8, Chrome40) Android(Samsung-Galaxy-S5)

The following also passes validation today, but passes some sort of space character to the server from most browsers (probably not desirable) and a blank on others (Chrome40/Linux passes a blank):

<option>&#160;</option>

Previously (2013-08-02)

According to my notes, the non-breaking-space entity inside the option tags shown above produced the following error in 2013:

> Error: W3C Markup Validaton Service (Public): The first child option > element of a select element with a required attribute and without a > multiple attribute, and whose size is 1, must have either an empty > value attribute, or must have no text content.

At that time, a regular space was valid XHTML4 and sent a blank (not a space) to the server from every browser:

<option> </option>

Future

It would make my heart glad if the spec was updated to explicitly allow a blank option. Preferably using the briefest syntax. Either of the following would be great:

<option />
<option></option>

Test File

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>

<head>
  <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
  <title>Test</title>
</head>

<body>
  <form action="index.html" method="post">
    <select name="sel">
      <option label=" "></option>
    </select>
  </form>
</body>

</html>

Solution 4 - Html

<td><b>Field Label:</b><br>
	<select style='align:left; width:100%;' id='some_id' name='some_name'>
	<option hidden selected>Select one...</option>
	<option value='Value1'>OptLabel1</option>
	<option value='Value2'>OptLabel2</option>
	<option value='Value3'>OptLabel3</option></select>
</td>

Just put "hidden" on option you want to hide on dropdown list.

Solution 5 - Html

Solution that works by only using CSS:

A: Inline CSS

<select>
    <option style="display:none;"></option>
    <option>Option 1</option>
    <option>Option 2</option>
    <option>Option 3</option>
</select>

B: CSS Style Sheet

If you have a CSS file at hand, you can target the first option using:

select.first-opt-hidden option:first-of-type {
  display:none;
}

<select class="first-opt-hidden">
    <option></option>
    <option>Option 1</option>
    <option>Option 2</option>
    <option>Option 3</option>
</select>

Solution 6 - Html

This should help:

https://www.w3schools.com/tags/att_select_required.asp

 <form>
 <select required>
  <option value="">None</option>
  <option value="volvo">Volvo</option>
  <option value="saab">Saab</option>
  <option value="mercedes">Mercedes</option>
  <option value="audi">Audi</option>
</select>
<button type="submit">Submit</button>
</form>

Solution 7 - Html

Just a small remark:

some Safari browsers do not seem to respect neither the "hidden" attribute nor the style setting "display:none" (tested with Safari 12.1 under MacOS 10.12.6). Without an explicit placeholder text, these browsers simply show an empty first line in the list of options. It may therefore be useful to always provide some explanatory text for this "dummy" entry:

<option hidden disabled selected value>(select an option)</option>

Thanks to the "disabled" attribute, it won't be actively selected anyway.

Solution 8 - Html

<select required>
  <option value="" disabled selected>None</option>
  <option value="volvo">Volvo</option>
  <option value="saab">Saab</option>
  <option value="mercedes">Mercedes</option>
  <option value="audi">Audi</option>
</select>

You can avoid custom validation in this case.

Solution 9 - Html

I understand what you are trying to do.The best and the most successful way is :

<select name='department' required>
   <option value="">None</option>
   <option value="Teaching">Teaching department</option>
   <option value="nonTeaching">Non-teaching department</option> 
</select>

Solution 10 - Html

I found it really interesting because I just experienced the same thing not so long time ago. However, I came across to an example on the Internet about the solution regarding this.

Without any further ado, see the code fragment below:

<select>
 <option value data-isdefault="true">--Choose one Option--</option>
 <option>Option 1</option>
 <option>Option 2</option>
 <option>Option 3</option>
</select>

With that, it will stay un-submittable but selectable, anytime. More convenience for User Interface and great for User Experience.

Well that's all, I hope it helps. Cheers!

Solution 11 - Html

There is no HTML solution. By the HTML 4.01 spec, browser behavior is undefined if none of the option elements has the selected attribute, and what browsers do in practice is that they make the first option pre-selected.

As a workaround, you could replace the select element by a set of input type=radio elements (with the same name attribute). This creates a control of the same kind though with different appearance and user interface. If none of the input type=radio elements has the checked attribute, none of them is initially selected in most modern browsers.

Solution 12 - Html

I'm using Laravel 5 framework and @Gambi `s answer worked for me as well but with some changes for my project.

I have the option values in a database table and I use them with a foreach statement. But before the statement I have added an option with @Gambit suggested settings and it worked.

Here my exemple:

@isset($keys)
  <select>
    <option  disabled selected value></option>
    @foreach($keys as $key)
      <option>{{$key->value)</option>
    @endforeach
  </select>
@endisset

I hope this helps someone as well. Keep up the good work!

Solution 13 - Html

Try this:

<h2>Favorite color</h2>
<select name="color">
<option value=""></option>
<option>Pink</option>
<option>Red</option>
<option>Blue</option>
</select>

The first option in the drop down would be blank.

Solution 14 - Html

In order to show please select a value in drop down and hide it after some value is selected . please use the below code.

it will also support required validation.

<select class="form-control" required>
<option disabled selected value style="display:none;">--Please select a value</option>
              <option >Data 1</option>
              <option >Data 2</option>
              <option >Data 3</option>
</select>

Solution 15 - Html

If you are using Angular (2+), (or any other framework), you could add some logic. The logic would be: only display an empty option if the user did not select any other yet. So after the user selected an option, the empty option disappears.

For Angular (9) this would look something like this:

<select>
    <option *ngIf="(hasOptionSelected$ | async) === false"></option>
    <option *ngFor="let option of (options$ | async)[value]="option.id">{{ option.title }}</option>
</select>

Solution 16 - Html

For those who are using <select multiple> (combobox; no dropdown), this worked for me:

<select size=1 disabled multiple>
  <option hidden selected></option>
  <option>My Option</option>
</select>

Solution 17 - Html

If you don't need any empty option at first, try this first line:

    <option style="display:none"></option>

Solution 18 - Html

just use "..option hidden selected.." as default option

Solution 19 - Html

I guess a good idea would be to use the radio buttons, set #1 as default and hide it, give it for example a name="init" and a value="null" or whatever, up to you!

this way the radio buttons list has a value definitely, but default of null can be used logically!

I think it's not necessary to elaborate further, since the idea can easily be implemented with display: none; or visibility: hidden;

... whereas I think the first one display: none; is the better option:

Solution 20 - Html

In react, you can give a dummy value (say -1) with select tag as below and same value can be used with this disabled option of yours. (WORKED FOR ME)

const nonEmpty = selected[identifierField] || false;

<select
    onChange={(e) => {
      onSelect(
        options.find((option) => option[identifierField] === e.target.value)
      );
    }}
    value={nonEmpty || -1}
  >
    <option disabled value={-1}>Select Option</option>
    {options.map((option) => (
      <option key={option[identifierField]} value={option[identifierField]}>
        {option[displayField]}
      </option>
    ))}
  </select>

Solution 21 - Html