How to set cursor position in content-editable element using JavaScript ?

28 Nov, 2019
In order to set caret cursor position in content editable elements like div tag is carried over by JavaScript Range interface. The range is created using document.createRange() method.
Approach 1:
First, create Range and set position using above syntax.
Get user input from input tag using jQuery$("input']").val();

$("input']").val();

On button click assign input value to range function to return cursor position on div.
Following syntax explain clearly:
Syntax:
// document.createRange() creates new range object
var rangeobj = document.createRange();

// Here 'rangeobj' is created Range Object
var selectobj = window.getSelection();

// Here 'selectobj' is created object for window
// get selected or caret current position.
// Setting start position of a Range
rangeobj.setStart(startNode, startOffset);

// Setting End position of a Range
rangeobj.setEnd(endNode, endOffset);

// Collapses the Range to one of its
// boundary points
rangeobj.collapse(true);

// Removes all ranges from the selection
// except Anchor Node and Focus Node
selectobj.removeAllRanges();

// Adds a Range to a Selection
selectobj.addRange(rangeobj);

Example 1: Below example illustrate how to set caret cursor position on content-editable element div based on user input.
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en">  <head>    <meta charset="utf-8">    <meta name="viewport"        content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">      <script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.4.1/jquery.min.js">    </script>          <style>        div {            outline-color: red;            caret-color: red;            color: #ddd;            width: 550px;            text-align: justify;            border: 2px solid red;        }    </style></head>  <body>    <center>        <h1 style="color:green;padding:13px;">            GeeksforGeeeks        </h1>        <br>                  <div id="editable" contenteditable="true"                    spellcheck="false">            HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language.            It is used to design web pages using markup             language. HTML is the combination of Hypertext            and Markup language. Hypertext defines the link             between the web pages. Markup language is used             to define the text document within tag which             defines the structure of web pages. HTML is a             markup language which is used by the browser            to manipulate text, images and other content             to display it in required format.        </div>        <br/>                  <input type="number" name="position" min="0"                value="0" max="470" />                  <button>Position Cursor</button>    </center>      <script>        function setCursor(pos) {            var tag = document.getElementById("editable");                          // Creates range object            var setpos = document.createRange();                          // Creates object for selection            var set = window.getSelection();                          // Set start position of range            setpos.setStart(tag.childNodes[0], pos);                          // Collapse range within its boundary points            // Returns boolean            setpos.collapse(true);                          // Remove all ranges set            set.removeAllRanges();                          // Add range with respect to range object.            set.addRange(setpos);                          // Set cursor on focus            tag.focus();        }              $('button').click(function() {            var $pos = $("input[name='position']").val();            setCursor($pos);        });    </script></body>  </html>
Output:
Before Entering the position:
After Entering the position:
Approach 2:
First create Range and set position using above syntax.
On button click trigger function to return cursor position on div.
Example 2: Below example illustrates how to set caret cursor position on content-editable element div.
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en">  <head>    <meta charset="utf-8">    <meta name="viewport"        content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">              <script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.4.1/jquery.min.js">    </script>          <style>        div {            outline-color: red;            caret-color: red;            color: #ddd;            width: 550px;            text-align: justify;            border: 2px solid red;        }    </style></head>  <body>    <center>        <h1 style="color:green;padding:13px;">            GeeksforGeeeks        </h1>        <br>          <div id="editable" contenteditable="true"                    spellcheck="false">            HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language.            It is used to design web pages using markup            language. HTML is the combination of Hypertext            and Markup language. Hypertext defines the            link between the web pages. Markup language            is used to define the text document within            tag which defines the structure of web pages.             HTML is a markup language which is used by            the browser to manipulate text, images and            other content to display it in required            format.        </div>        <br/>                  <button>Position Cursor</button>    </center>          <script>        function positionCursor() {                          var tag = document.getElementById("editable");                          // Creates range object            var setpos = document.createRange();                          // Creates object for selection            var set = window.getSelection();                          // Set start position of range            setpos.setStart(tag.childNodes[0], 12);                          // Collapse range within its boundary points            // Returns boolean            setpos.collapse(true);                          // Remove all ranges set            set.removeAllRanges();                          // Add range with respect to range object.            set.addRange(setpos);                          // Set cursor on focus            tag.focus();        }              $('button').click(function() {            positionCursor();        });    </script></body>  </html>
Output:
Before Clicking the Button:
After Clicking the Button:
Reference: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Range
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