List box

Sometimes called a pick list, a list box lists options contained in a form, pop-up window, or dialog box.

Depending on the settings, a list box can be set to allow the user to select only one of the available options or multiple options.

Example of an HTML list box

Below is an example of an HTML (hypertext markup language) list box that uses the select and option HTML tags.

HTML code

The following HTML code is the code used for the above example. This code could be placed into any HTML form to get input from visitors.

<select name="example" size="5">
<option>test text 1</option>
<option>test text 2</option>
<option>test text 3</option>
<option>test text 4</option>
<option>test text 5</option>
</select>

Example of HTML list box with multiple select

Adding the "multiple" attribute to the select tag enables the ability for the user to select multiple options. Below you can select multiple options in the list box by holding down Ctrl and clicking each of the options you want to select.

Alternatively, to select a group of options, you can hold down Shift and click the last option to highlight everything between the first and last selection option. For example, if you click "test text 2" and then hold down Shift and click "test text 5" the options 2, 3, 4, and 5 will all be selected.

Check box, Combo box, Dialog box, Drop-down list, Operating system terms