---
title: Retrieving selections
metadata:
description: There are two ways to programmatically access the current selection data: using `.select2('data')`, or by using a jQuery selector.
taxonomy:
category: docs
---
There are two ways to programmatically access the current selection data: using .select2('data')
, or by using a jQuery selector.
Calling select2('data')
will return a JavaScript array of objects representing the current selection. Each object will contain all of the properties/values that were in the source data objects passed through processResults
and templateResult
callbacks.
$('#mySelect2').select2('data');
Selected items can also be accessed via the :selected
jQuery selector:
$('#mySelect2').find(':selected');
It is possible to extend the <option>
elements representing the current selection(s) with HTML data-*
attributes to contain arbitrary data from the source data objects:
$('#mySelect2').select2({
// ...
templateSelection: function (data, container) {
// Add custom attributes to the <option> tag for the selected option
$(data.element).attr('data-custom-attribute', data.customValue);
return data.text;
}
});
// Retrieve custom attribute value of the first selected element
$('#mySelect2').find(':selected').data('custom-attribute');
Do not rely on the
selected
attribute of<option>
elements to determine the currently selected item(s). Select2 does not add theselected
attribute when an element is created from a remotely-sourced option. See this issue for more information.