How can I hide a checkbox in html?

Question

I want to hide a checkbox.
But also want that, when I click on label associated with corresponding checkbox, the checkbox should get checked/unchecked.

I also want that the checkbox MUST be able to be focused.

I am doing the following:

<div class="menuitem">
    <label class="checkbox"><input type="checkbox" value="valueofcheckbox" style="display:none" checked="checked">Option Text</label>
</div>

The problem with above is, I am not able to make focus the checkbox when style="display:none".

To make checkbox focusable I am doing :

$('input', '.menuitem').focus();

IF POSSIBLE, how do I make the hidden checkbox focusable?

@KnowHowSolutions Erm... say that again, slowly? REMOVES it from the DOM? Really? — Niet the Dark Absol
– Niet the Dark Absol, Commented Jul 31, 2013 at 20:02
You want it "hidden" but you also want it to receive "focus" and get checked/unchecked? What are you trying to accomplish with all this verbose contradiction? Surely, there's a better way... try <input type="hidden" /> to store/send whatever it is. — Sparky
– Sparky, Commented Jul 31, 2013 at 20:19
maybe use <label for="check">some text</label><input type="checkbox" name="check" style="display: block;"/> type 'name' attribute of checkbox in 'for' attribute of label — Max Leps
– Max Leps, Commented Jul 31, 2013 at 20:20

unblevable · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-31 20:21:09Z

28

Try setting the checkbox's opacity to 0. If you want the checkbox to be out of flow try position:absolute and offset the checkbox by a large number.

HTML

<label class="checkbox"><input type="checkbox" value="valueofcheckbox" checked="checked" style="opacity:0; position:absolute; left:9999px;">Option Text</label>

edited Jul 31, 2013 at 20:21

answered Jul 31, 2013 at 20:04

unblevable

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3 Comments

Mike Christensen Over a year ago

This would be more like visibility: hidden than display: none though.

unblevable Over a year ago

I updated your fiddle; the solution is sloppy, but focus and checking work. fiddle

Dhanuka777 Over a year ago

Not that visibility:hidden will take it's space.

Mike Christensen · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-31 20:24:36Z

14

Elements that are not being rendered (be it through visibility: hidden, display: none, opacity: 0.0, whatever) will not indicate focus. The browser will not draw a focus border around nothing.

If you want the text to be focusable, that's completely doable. You can wrap the whole thing in an element that can receive focus (for example, a hyperlink), or allow another tag to have focus using the tabindex property:

<label tabindex="0" class="checkbox">
  <input type="checkbox" value="valueofcheckbox" style="display:none" checked="checked" />Option Text
</label>

Fiddle

In this case, the <label> tag above is actually receiving focus and everything within it will have a focus border when it's in focus.

I do question what your goal is. If you're using a hidden checkbox to internally track some sort of state, you might be better off using a <input type="hidden" /> tag instead.

edited Jul 31, 2013 at 20:24

answered Jul 31, 2013 at 20:02

Mike Christensen

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19 Comments

codeofnode Over a year ago

the hidden checkbox is still not focusable in my work... can u please edit n save the fiddle to actually show the hidden checkbox focusable?

Mike Christensen Over a year ago

You can't make a hidden element focusable. No matter what. The browser won't draw a focus ring around nothing.

codeofnode Over a year ago

if that is true, there is no need for tabindex.. the result would be same even without tabindex=0

Niet the Dark Absol Over a year ago

You can add label:focus{outline:1px solid black} to your CSS.

codeofnode Over a year ago

i also want it to be multiselect dropdown.. so i have to use checkbox.. i also use some css to display the selected items in case of multiselect dropdown.. but not showing the checkbox to end user.. Is there a way to achieve the same without loosing my checkbox..??

|

Victor · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-31 21:36:43Z

12

This two classes are borrowed from the HTML Boilerplate main.css. Although the invisible checkbox will be focused and not the label.

/*
 * Hide only visually, but have it available for screenreaders: h5bp.com/v
 */

.visuallyhidden {
    border: 0;
    clip: rect(0 0 0 0);
    height: 1px;
    margin: -1px;
    overflow: hidden;
    padding: 0;
    position: absolute;
    width: 1px;
}

/*
 * Extends the .visuallyhidden class to allow the element to be focusable
 * when navigated to via the keyboard: h5bp.com/p
 */

.visuallyhidden.focusable:active,
.visuallyhidden.focusable:focus {
    clip: auto;
    height: auto;
    margin: 0;
    overflow: visible;
    position: static;
    width: auto;
}

edited Jul 31, 2013 at 21:36

answered Jul 31, 2013 at 20:15

Victor

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Comments

vsync · Accepted Answer · 2021-04-05 12:28:31Z

10

`input` may have a hidden attribute:

label{ cursor:pointer; user-select:none; }
input:checked + span::before {
  content: 'un';
}

<label>
  <input type='checkbox' hidden/>
  <span>check</span>
<label>

edited Apr 5, 2021 at 12:28

answered Jun 29, 2020 at 10:21

vsync

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Comments

Luke Taylor · Accepted Answer · 2018-08-13 18:40:58Z

0

if you want your check box to keep its height and width but only be invisible:

.hiddenCheckBox{
    visibility: hidden;
}

if you want your check box to be invisible without any with and height:

.hiddenCheckBox{
    display: none;
}

edited Aug 13, 2018 at 18:40

Luke Taylor

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answered Jul 23, 2016 at 8:59

George Carlin

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1 Comment

Fabian von Ellerts Over a year ago

Both ways the checkbox is not focusable, don't use this.

davidf · Accepted Answer · 2016-05-31 22:49:39Z

-1

You need to add the element type to the class, otherwise it will not work.

.hide-checkbox { display: none }        /* This will not work! */
input.hide-checkbox { display: none }   /* But this will. */

<input class="hide-checkbox" id="checkbox" />
<label for="checkbox">Checkbox</label>

It looks too simple, but try it out!

answered May 31, 2016 at 22:49

davidf

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