How do I auto-hide placeholder text upon focus using css or jquery?

Question

This is done automatically for every browser except Chrome.

I\'m guessing I have to specifically target Chrome.

Any solutio

Answer 1

Demo is here: jsfiddle

Try this :

//auto-hide-placeholder-text-upon-focus
if(!$.browser.webkit){
$("input").each(
        function(){
            $(this).data('holder',$(this).attr('placeholder'));
            $(this).focusin(function(){
                $(this).attr('placeholder','');
            });
            $(this).focusout(function(){
                $(this).attr('placeholder',$(this).data('holder'));
            });

        });

}

Answer 2

Pure CSS Solution (no JS required)

Building on @Hexodus and @Casey Chu's answers, here is an updated and cross-browser solution that leverages CSS opacity and transitions to fade the placeholder text out. It works for any element that can use placeholders, including textarea and input tags.

::-webkit-input-placeholder { opacity: 1; -webkit-transition: opacity .5s; transition: opacity .5s; }  /* Chrome <=56, Safari < 10 */
:-moz-placeholder { opacity: 1; -moz-transition: opacity .5s; transition: opacity .5s; } /* FF 4-18 */
::-moz-placeholder { opacity: 1; -moz-transition: opacity .5s; transition: opacity .5s; } /* FF 19-51 */
:-ms-input-placeholder { opacity: 1; -ms-transition: opacity .5s; transition: opacity .5s; } /* IE 10+ */
::placeholder { opacity: 1; transition: opacity .5s; } /* Modern Browsers */
    
*:focus::-webkit-input-placeholder { opacity: 0; } /* Chrome <=56, Safari < 10 */
*:focus:-moz-placeholder { opacity: 0; } /* FF 4-18 */
*:focus::-moz-placeholder { opacity: 0; } /* FF 19-50 */
*:focus:-ms-input-placeholder { opacity: 0; } /* IE 10+ */
*:focus::placeholder { opacity: 0; } /* Modern Browsers */

<div>
  <div><label for="a">Input:</label></div>
  <input id="a" type="text" placeholder="CSS native fade out this placeholder text on click/focus" size="60">
</div>

<br>

<div>
  <div><label for="b">Textarea:</label></div>
  <textarea id="b" placeholder="CSS native fade out this placeholder text on click/focus" rows="3"></textarea>
</div>

Revisions

• Edit 1 (2017): Updated to support modern browsers.
• Edit 2 (2020): Added the runnable Stack Snippet.

Answer 3

I like the css approach spiced with transitions. On Focus the placeholder fades out ;) Works also for textareas.

Thanks @Casey Chu for the great idea.

textarea::-webkit-input-placeholder, input::-webkit-input-placeholder { 
    color: #fff;
    opacity: 0.4;
    transition: opacity 0.5s;
    -webkit-transition: opacity 0.5s; 
}

textarea:focus::-webkit-input-placeholder, input:focus::-webkit-input-placeholder  { 
    opacity: 0;
}

Answer 4

This piece of CSS worked for me:

input:focus::-webkit-input-placeholder {
        color:transparent;

}

Answer 5

$("input[placeholder]").focusin(function () {
    $(this).data('place-holder-text', $(this).attr('placeholder')).attr('placeholder', '');
})
.focusout(function () {
    $(this).attr('placeholder', $(this).data('place-holder-text'));
});

Answer 6

Edit: All browsers support now

input:focus::placeholder {
  color: transparent;
}

<input type="text" placeholder="Type something here!">

Firefox 15 and IE 10+ also supports this now. To expand on Casey Chu's CSS solution:

input:focus::-webkit-input-placeholder { color:transparent; }
input:focus:-moz-placeholder { color:transparent; } /* FF 4-18 */
input:focus::-moz-placeholder { color:transparent; } /* FF 19+ */
input:focus:-ms-input-placeholder { color:transparent; } /* IE 10+ */