Combobox
A text input combined with a dropdown list of suggestions that filter as the user types.
⌕ ▾
- Australia
- Brazil
- Canada
- France
- Germany
- India
- Japan
- Spain
Comboboxes let users type a value freely, pick from suggestions, or both. They're the right control when the list of options is long (countries, users, products) and exact typing alone would be slow. The ARIA `combobox` role formalizes the accessibility contract: input + listbox + selected option.
Also called
autocompletetypeaheadsearchable select
When to use
- Selecting one item from a long list (search-with-suggestions)
- Forms where users may type a known value or pick from a list
- Tag inputs where users can add new values or pick existing
When not to use
- Short option lists (3-6) where a segmented control or radio group is clearer
- Free-text inputs with no suggestion list (use a plain text input)
Related
Source
W3C ARIA Authoring Practices ('Combobox pattern'); the term dates back to early GUI toolkits.