Enhanced Select Box In Vanilla JavaScript – Select.js

A plain JavaScript library that enhances the default select box with live search, multi-select, and autocomplete capabilities.

How to use it:

1. Import the necessary JavaScript and CSS files into the document.

<link rel=”stylesheet” href=”./select.css” />
<script src=”./select.js” type=”module”></script>

2. Add the data-select attribute to the select element and the library will take care of the rest.

<select data-select>
  ...
</select>
<select multiple data-select>
  ...
</select>

3. Convert an input field into a select dropdown, and attach an autocomplete list to it using the datalist element:

<input type="text" list="datalist">
<datalist id="datalist">
  <optgroup label="Alaskan/Hawaiian Time Zone">
    <option value="AK">Alaska</option>
    <option value="HI">Hawaii</option>
  </optgroup>
  <optgroup label="Pacific Time Zone">
    <option value="CA">California</option>
    <option value="NV">Nevada</option>
    <option value="OR">Oregon</option>
    <option value="WA">Washington</option>
  </optgroup>
  <optgroup label="Mountain Time Zone">
    <option value="AZ">Arizona</option>
    <option value="CO">Colorado</option>
    <option value="ID">Idaho</option>
    <option value="MT">Montana</option>
    <option value="NE">Nebraska</option>
    <option value="NM">New Mexico</option>
    <option value="ND">North Dakota</option>
    <option value="UT">Utah</option>
    <option value="WY">Wyoming</option>
  </optgroup>
  <optgroup label="Central Time Zone">
    <option value="AL">Alabama</option>
    <option value="AR">Arkansas</option>
    <option value="IL">Illinois</option>
    <option value="IA">Iowa</option>
    <option value="KS">Kansas</option>
    <option value="KY">Kentucky</option>
    <option value="LA">Louisiana</option>
    <option value="MN">Minnesota</option>
    <option value="MS">Mississippi</option>
    <option value="MO">Missouri</option>
    <option value="OK">Oklahoma</option>
    <option value="SD">South Dakota</option>
    <option value="TX">Texas</option>
    <option value="TN">Tennessee</option>
    <option value="WI">Wisconsin</option>
  </optgroup>
  <optgroup label="Eastern Time Zone">
    <option value="CT">Connecticut</option>
    <option value="DE">Delaware</option>
    <option value="FL">Florida</option>
    <option value="GA">Georgia</option>
    <option value="IN">Indiana</option>
    <option value="ME">Maine</option>
    <option value="MD">Maryland</option>
    <option value="MA">Massachusetts</option>
    <option value="MI">Michigan</option>
    <option value="NH">New Hampshire</option>
    <option value="NJ">New Jersey</option>
    <option value="NY">New York</option>
    <option value="NC">North Carolina</option>
    <option value="OH">Ohio</option>
    <option value="PA">Pennsylvania</option>
    <option value="RI">Rhode Island</option>
    <option value="SC">South Carolina</option>
    <option value="VT">Vermont</option>
    <option value="VA">Virginia</option>
    <option value="WV">West Virginia</option>
  </optgroup>
</datalist>

4. The separate file tags.js provides a matching component that allows to enter arbitrary text instead of only the provided options. It combines multi-select with native auto-complete.

<script src="./tags.js" type="module"></script>

<select multiple data-tags>
  <optgroup label="Alaskan/Hawaiian Time Zone">
    <option value="AK">Alaska</option>
    <option value="HI">Hawaii</option>
  </optgroup>
  <optgroup label="Pacific Time Zone">
    <option value="CA">California</option>
    <option value="NV">Nevada</option>
    <option value="OR">Oregon</option>
    <option value="WA">Washington</option>
  </optgroup>
  <optgroup label="Mountain Time Zone">
    <option value="AZ">Arizona</option>
    <option value="CO">Colorado</option>
    <option value="ID">Idaho</option>
    <option value="MT">Montana</option>
    <option value="NE">Nebraska</option>
    <option value="NM">New Mexico</option>
    <option value="ND">North Dakota</option>
    <option value="UT">Utah</option>
    <option value="WY">Wyoming</option>
  </optgroup>
  <optgroup label="Central Time Zone">
    <option value="AL">Alabama</option>
    <option value="AR">Arkansas</option>
    <option value="IL">Illinois</option>
    <option value="IA">Iowa</option>
    <option value="KS">Kansas</option>
    <option value="KY">Kentucky</option>
    <option value="LA">Louisiana</option>
    <option value="MN">Minnesota</option>
    <option value="MS">Mississippi</option>
    <option value="MO">Missouri</option>
    <option value="OK">Oklahoma</option>
    <option value="SD">South Dakota</option>
    <option value="TX">Texas</option>
    <option value="TN">Tennessee</option>
    <option value="WI">Wisconsin</option>
  </optgroup>
  <optgroup label="Eastern Time Zone">
    <option value="CT">Connecticut</option>
    <option value="DE">Delaware</option>
    <option value="FL">Florida</option>
    <option value="GA">Georgia</option>
    <option value="IN">Indiana</option>
    <option value="ME">Maine</option>
    <option value="MD">Maryland</option>
    <option value="MA">Massachusetts</option>
    <option value="MI">Michigan</option>
    <option value="NH">New Hampshire</option>
    <option value="NJ">New Jersey</option>
    <option value="NY">New York</option>
    <option value="NC">North Carolina</option>
    <option value="OH">Ohio</option>
    <option value="PA">Pennsylvania</option>
    <option value="RI">Rhode Island</option>
    <option value="SC">South Carolina</option>
    <option value="VT">Vermont</option>
    <option value="VA">Virginia</option>
    <option value="WV">West Virginia</option>
  </optgroup>
</select>

Changelog:

05/03/2025

• refactor: avoid redundant ID definition

08/31/2023

• use aria-described-by instead of aria-polite for values

08/11/2023

• CSS fixed

08/09/2023

• update

06/13/2023

• make last line half visible

01/17/2023

• refactor validation

11/09/2022

• trigger updateValue() on click on value

09/01/2022

• tags: allow to use different separators

07/28/2022

• fix dropdown z-index
• reset custom validity on setValue
• allow to customize classes

06/18/2022

• use dedicated class for values
• add tags.js

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