How do I clear all options in a dropdown box?

javascript html-select
Kirt picture Kirt · Jul 29, 2010 · Viewed 447.3k times · Source

My code works in IE but breaks in Safari, Firefox, and Opera. (big surprise)

document.getElementById("DropList").options.length=0;

After searching, I've learned that it's the length=0 that it doesn't like.
I've tried ...options=null and var clear=0; ...length=clear with the same result.

I am doing this to multiple objects at a time, so I am looking for some lightweight JS code.

Answer

Fabiano picture Fabiano · Jul 29, 2010

To remove the options of an HTML element of select, you can utilize the remove() method:

function removeOptions(selectElement) {
   var i, L = selectElement.options.length - 1;
   for(i = L; i >= 0; i--) {
      selectElement.remove(i);
   }
}

// using the function:
removeOptions(document.getElementById('DropList'));

It's important to remove the options backwards; as the remove() method rearranges the options collection. This way, it's guaranteed that the element to be removed still exists!

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