:contains() Selector

Categories: Selectors > Content Filter

contains selector

Description: Select all elements that contain the specified text.

  • version added: 1.1.4jQuery( ":contains(text)" )

    text: A string of text to look for. It's case sensitive.

The matching text can appear directly within the selected element, in any of that element's descendants, or a combination thereof. As with attribute value selectors, text inside the parentheses of :contains() can be written as a bare word or surrounded by quotation marks. The text must have matching case to be selected.

Example:

Finds all divs containing "John" and underlines them.

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<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <title>contains demo</title>
  <script src="jquery-1.10.2.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
 
<div>John Resig</div>
<div>George Martin</div>
<div>Malcom John Sinclair</div>
<div>J. Ohn</div>
 
<script>
$( "div:contains('John')" ).css( "text-decoration", "underline" );
</script>
 
</body>
</html>

Demo: