jQuery Has Attribute [name]

What Is [name]?

The has-attribute selector matches elements that have a named attribute in the markup, regardless of its value. Available since jQuery 1.0 (standard CSS).

$("[attribute]")

$("div[id]")
  ✓ <div id="a">…</div>
  ✓ <div id="">…</div>        (empty still has the attr)
  ✗ <div>…</div>              (no id attribute)

[attr]  ≠  [attr='value']   // presence vs exact value

How to Use [name]

Name the attribute, optionally add a tag, then query for presence only.

1. Choose the attribute you care about (id, href, required, …).
2. Write $("[attr]") — or with a tag: $("div[id]").
3. Do not put a value inside the brackets unless you want exact equality.
4. Prefer a tag prefix on large pages for clarity and a smaller match set.

Pseudocode

attrName = given attribute
matches  = empty list

for each element:
    if element.hasAttribute(attrName):   // any value, including ""
        add element

return jQuery(matches)

Cheat Sheet

Keep these facts handy while checking attribute presence.

Live Preview

Run presence / equals selectors against sample divs and see which elements match.

$("div[id]")
matched: 3
labels: with id, empty id, has an id

/* presence — any id value */

jQuery Examples

Short, copy-ready snippets. Open a browser with jQuery loaded, or use Try It Yourself for a live editor.

var ids = $("div[id]").map(function () {
  return this.id || "(empty)";
}).get().join(", ");

console.log(ids);
console.log("count:", $("div[id]").length);

box-a, box-b
count: 2
(divs without id are skipped)

console.log("[id]       :", $("div[id]").length);
console.log("[id=box-a] :", $("div[id='box-a']").length);

// presence is wider; equals is exact

[id]       : 2
[id=box-a] : 1

Presence keeps every id; equals keeps one

var hrefs = $("a[href]").map(function () {
  return $(this).attr("href");
}).get().join(", ");

console.log(hrefs);
console.log("count:", $("a[href]").length);

/docs, /about
count: 2
(anchors without href are skipped)

var names = $("input[required]").map(function () {
  return this.name || "(no name)";
}).get().join(", ");

console.log(names);
console.log("required count:", $("input[required]").length);

email, phone
required count: 2

console.log("div[id]:", $("div[id]").length);
console.log("empty id in set?", $("div[id='']").length);

// id="" has the attribute → matches [id]

div[id]: 2
empty id in set? 1

Empty string still counts as having the attribute

Performance Notes

Attribute presence selectors are standard CSS, so jQuery can often use the browser engine. Prefer a tag prefix or a container on large documents.

Key Takeaways