How to find an element based on a data-attribute value in jQuery?

To find an element based on a data-attribute value using jQuery is quite easy. Data attributes are custom attributes that allow you to store extra information on HTML elements using the data-* format.

Attribute Selector Syntax

jQuery provides a powerful attribute selector syntax to target elements with specific data attributes. The basic syntax is [data-attribute="value"] where you specify the attribute name and its value.

Example

You can try to run the following code to learn how to find an element based on a data-attribute value using jQuery ?

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.2.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
    <script>
        $(document).ready(function() {
            $('[data-slide="2"]').addClass('demo');
        });
    </script>
    <style>
        .demo {
            font-size: 200%;
            color: green;
        }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
    <p data-slide="1">One</p>
    <p data-slide="2">Two</p>
    <p data-slide="3">Three</p>
</body>
</html>

The output of the above code is ?

One
Two (displayed in larger green text)
Three

Additional Selector Options

You can also use other attribute selectors with data attributes ?

// Find elements containing a specific value
$('[data-category*="tech"]')

// Find elements starting with a value
$('[data-name^="user"]')

// Find elements ending with a value
$('[data-type$="button"]')

Conclusion

Finding elements by data attributes in jQuery is straightforward using attribute selectors, making it easy to target specific elements based on custom data values stored in HTML.

Updated on: 2026-03-13T18:10:05+05:30

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