function SelectText(element) { var doc = document , text = doc.getElementById(element) , range, selection ; if (doc.body.createTextRange) { range = document.body.createTextRange(); range.moveToElementText(text); range.select(); } else if (window.getSelection) { selection = window.getSelection(); range = document.createRange(); range.selectNodeContents(text); selection.removeAllRanges(); selection.addRange(range); } } $(function() { $('p').click(function() { SelectText('selectme'); }); });