jQuery :text Selector

What Is :text?

:text (since jQuery 1.0) selects <input> elements of type text. Prefer $("input:text") over bare $(":text"). Since 1.5.2, it also matches inputs with no type attribute (text is implied).

$("input:text")              // recommended
$("form input:text")         // official demo style
$("input[type=text]")        // explicit attribute only

$(":text")                   // avoid — implies *:text

// Since 1.5.2:
$("<input>").is(":text")        // true  (no type → text)
$("<input>").is("[type=text]")  // false

// Not textarea — use $("textarea")

How to Use :text

Prefix with input, scope to a form, then style, clear, or read values.

1. Write $("input:text") — not bare $(":text").
2. Scope to a form: $("#signup input:text").
3. Remember typeless <input> elements count as text since 1.5.2.
4. Do not expect textarea matches — select those separately.
5. For native speed with explicit types only, use input[type="text"].

Pseudocode

matches = []
for each input in search context:
    if type is "text"
       OR type attribute is missing (since 1.5.2):
        matches.add(input)

return matches

// [type=text] skips missing-type inputs

Cheat Sheet

Keep these facts handy while selecting text fields.

Live Preview

Run different selectors against a small sample form and compare :text with [type=text].

$("form input:text")
matched: 2

/* typed + typeless text inputs */

jQuery Examples

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

var input = $("form input:text");
$("#count").text("For this type jQuery found " + input.length + ".");
$("form").on("submit", function (e) { e.preventDefault(); });

For this type jQuery found 2.
(password and submit are not counted)

console.log("input:text →", $("input:text").length);
console.log("[type=text] →", $("input[type=text]").length);
console.log("typeless is :text?", $("input").eq(1).is(":text"));
console.log("typeless is [type=text]?", $("input").eq(1).is("[type=text]"));

input:text → 2
[type=text] → 1
typeless is :text? true
typeless is [type=text]? false

console.log("input:text →", $("input:text").length);
console.log(":text →", $(":text").length);
// Same matches here, but input:text is clearer and safer on large pages

input:text → 2
:text → 2

console.log("input:text →", $("input:text").length);
console.log("textarea →", $("textarea").length);
console.log("password →", $("input:password").length);

input:text → 1
textarea → 1
password → 1

var $attr = $("input[type='text']");
var $pseudo = $("input:text");
$("#out").text(
  "[type=text]: " + $attr.length + "\\n" +
  "input:text: " + $pseudo.length + "\\n" +
  "(counts differ if typeless inputs exist)"
);

[type=text]: 1
input:text: 2
(counts differ if typeless inputs exist)

Performance Notes

Official docs: because :text is not CSS, it cannot use the querySelectorAll boost. Prefer [type="text"] when you only need explicit text inputs and performance matters.

Key Takeaways