how do you iterate through just the current values of all selects, not the

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Editorial Team

Asked: June 11, 20262026-06-11T07:26:34+00:00 2026-06-11T07:26:34+00:00

how do you iterate through just the current values of all selects, not the options?

i have tried variations of this:

$('select[name^="mydropdowns"] :selected').each(function() {
   if ($(this).val() != 'Test') {
      alert("Found.");
   }
 });

‘Test’ is the default selected value across a couple dropdown menus, yet this script never returns an alert. what am I doing wrong here?

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Editorial Team · Answer 1 · 2026-06-11T07:26:36+00:00

Editorial Team

Just iterate through selects

$('select[name^="mydropdowns"]').each(function() {
   if ($(this).val() != 'Test') {
      alert("Found.");
   }
});

val() is appliable to input/select/textarea elements and not to option element.

The .val() method is primarily used to get the values of form elements such as input, select and textarea.

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