# :file Selector

Categories: Selectors > Form | Selectors > jQuery Extensions

## file selector

#### version added: 1.0jQuery(':file')

Description: Selects all elements of type file.

`:file` is equivalent to `[type="file"]`. As with other pseudo-class selectors (those that begin with a ":") it is recommended to precede it with a tag name or some other selector; otherwise, the universal selector ("*") is implied. In other words, the bare `$(':file')` is equivalent to `$('*:file')`, so `$('input:file')` should be used instead.

### Additional Notes:

- Because `:file` is a jQuery extension and not part of the CSS specification, queries using `:file` cannot take advantage of the performance boost provided by the native DOM `querySelectorAll()` method. For better performance in modern browsers, use `[type="file"]` instead.

### Example:

#### Finds all file inputs.

    <!DOCTYPE html>
    <html>
    <head>
      <style>
      textarea { height:45px; }
      </style>
      <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.7rc2.js"></script>
    </head>
    <body>
      <form>
        <input type="button" value="Input Button"/>
        <input type="checkbox" />

        <input type="file" />
        <input type="hidden" />
        <input type="image" />

        <input type="password" />
        <input type="radio" />
        <input type="reset" />

        <input type="submit" />
        <input type="text" />
        <select><option>Option<option/></select>

        <textarea></textarea>
        <button>Button</button>
      </form>
      <div>
      </div>
    <script>

        var input = $("input:file").css({background:"yellow", border:"3px red solid"});
        $("div").text("For this type jQuery found " + input.length + ".")
                .css("color", "red");
        $("form").submit(function () { return false; }); // so it won't submit

    </script>

    </body>
    </html>

#### Demo: