Selection: addRange() method

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2015.

The Selection.addRange() method adds a Range to a Selection.

Syntax

js
addRange(range)

Parameters

range

A Range object that will be added to the Selection.

Return value

None (undefined).

Examples

Note that only Firefox supports multiple selection ranges. In this example, other browsers will not add new ranges to the selection if it already contains one.

HTML

html
<p>
  I <strong>insist</strong> that you <strong>try</strong> selecting the
  <strong>strong words</strong>.
</p>
<button>Select strong words</button>

JavaScript

js
let button = document.querySelector("button");

button.addEventListener("click", () => {
  const selection = window.getSelection();
  const strongElems = document.getElementsByTagName("strong");

  if (selection.rangeCount > 0) {
    selection.removeAllRanges();
  }

  for (const node of strongElems) {
    const range = document.createRange();
    range.selectNode(node);
    selection.addRange(range);
  }
});

Result

Specifications

Specification
Selection API
# dom-selection-addrange

Browser compatibility

desktop mobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
addRange
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 1 (Release date: 2008-12-11)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 12 (Release date: 2015-07-29)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 1 (Release date: 2004-11-09)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 12.1 (Release date: 2012-11-20)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 3 (Release date: 2007-10-26)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 18 (Release date: 2012-06-27)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 4 (Release date: 2011-03-29)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 12.1 (Release date: 2012-10-09)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 1 (Release date: 2007-06-29)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 1 (Release date: 2013-04-27)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 4.4 (Release date: 2013-12-09)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 1 (Release date: 2007-06-29)
footnote Full support

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support

See also

  • Selection, the interface this method belongs to