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html element

`<optgroup>` HTML option group element

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The <optgroup> HTML element creates a grouping of options within a <select> element.

In customizable <select> elements, the <legend> element is allowed as a child of <optgroup>, to provide a label that is easy to target and style. This replaces any text set in the <optgroup> element’s label attribute, and it has the same semantics.

Interactive exampleOpen the canonical MDN source to run this embedded demo.
<label for="dino-select">Choose a dinosaur:</label>
<select id="dino-select">
  <optgroup label="Theropods">
    <option>Tyrannosaurus</option>
    <option>Velociraptor</option>
    <option>Deinonychus</option>
  </optgroup>
  <optgroup label="Sauropods">
    <option>Diplodocus</option>
    <option>Saltasaurus</option>
    <option>Apatosaurus</option>
  </optgroup>
</select>
label {
  display: block;
  margin-bottom: 10px;
}

[!NOTE] Optgroup elements may not be nested.

Attributes

This element includes the global attributes.

  • disabled
    • : If this Boolean attribute is set, none of the items in this option group is selectable. Often browsers grey out such control and it won’t receive any browsing events, like mouse clicks or focus-related ones.
  • label
    • : The name of the group of options, which the browser can use when labeling the options in the user interface. This attribute is mandatory if this element is used.

Examples

<select>
  <optgroup label="Group 1">
    <option>Option 1.1</option>
  </optgroup>
  <optgroup label="Group 2">
    <option>Option 2.1</option>
    <option>Option 2.2</option>
  </optgroup>
  <optgroup label="Group 3" disabled>
    <option>Option 3.1</option>
    <option>Option 3.2</option>
    <option>Option 3.3</option>
  </optgroup>
</select>

Result

Interactive exampleOpen the canonical MDN source to run this embedded demo.

Technical summary

Content categories None.
Permitted content Zero or more [`
Tag omission The start tag is mandatory. The end tag is optional if this element is immediately followed by another <optgroup> element, or if the parent element has no more content.
Permitted parents A [`
Implicit ARIA role group
Permitted ARIA roles No role permitted
DOM interface [`HTMLOptGroupElement`](/firefox/mdn/api/htmloptgroupelement/)

Specifications

SpecificationsStandards references are available on the canonical MDN page.

Browser compatibility

Browser compatibilityCompatibility data is available on the canonical MDN page.

See also