CSS unselectable

In web design, sometimes we want certain text or elements to be unselectable by users, that is, users cannot select the text or click the element with the mouse. In this case, we can use the CSS user-select property to control whether an element is selectable.

Why Disable Selection

Disabling the selection of text or elements has many uses, such as protecting intellectual property, preventing users from copying content, and optimizing user interfaces. In some cases, developers want to prevent users from selecting certain elements to provide a better user experience.

CSS Property `user-select`>

The CSS user-select property controls whether users can select text. This property has the following values:

none: Users cannot select text.
auto: The browser’s default behavior, meaning users can select text.
text: Users can select text.

How to Use `user-select`>

To prevent users from selecting text or elements, we can simply set the user-select property to none. Here’s an example:

.unselectable {
-webkit-user-select: none; /* Safari */
-moz-user-select: none; /* Firefox */
-ms-user-select: none; /* IE 10+ */
user-select: none;
}

In the example above, we set the user-select: none; attribute on an element with the class .unselectable, effectively preventing the user from selecting the element.

Example

Here is a simple example demonstrating how to use the CSS user-select attribute to prevent users from selecting text:

<!DOCTYPE html> 
<html lang="en"> 
<head> 
<meta charset="UTF-8"> 
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> 
<title>Unselectable Text Example</title> 
<style> 
.unselectable { 
-webkit-user-select: none; /* Safari */ 
-moz-user-select: none; /* Firefox */ 
-ms-user-select: none; /* IE 10+ */ 
user-select: none; 
} 
</style> 
</head> 
<body> 
<div class="unselectable"> 
This text is unselectable. 
</div> 
</body> 
</html>

In this example, This text is unselectable. is unselectable.

Compatibility

The user-select attribute is relatively compatible and supported by major browsers (including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer). However, to be on the safe side, it’s best to add prefixes for different browsers to ensure compatibility.

Summary

In web design, we often encounter situations where we need to prevent users from selecting text or elements. The CSS user-select property is designed to address this need. By setting user-select: none;, we can easily prevent users from selecting certain elements, thereby improving user experience and protecting intellectual property rights.