select

select creates a loop that lets the user interactively choose from a numbered menu. The menu is displayed automatically, and the body of the loop runs based on the number the user enters. Use it when you need a simple interactive menu in a shell script.

Syntax

Basic syntax.

select variable in item_list; do
    commands ($variable holds the selected value)
    break   # Use break explicitly to exit the loop
done

Change the prompt string (default is "#? ").

PS3="Choose an option: "
select variable in item_list; do
    commands
done

Related Variables and Behaviors

Variable / Behavior	Description
$REPLY	Contains the number the user typed (the selected index).
$variable	Contains the text of the menu item the user selected.
PS3	The prompt string shown before each input (default is `#?` ).
break	Exits the select loop. Without `break`, the menu is displayed again after each selection.
Out-of-range number	`$variable` is set to an empty string. You can check for this with `if` to show an error.
Empty input (Enter only)	Redisplays the menu.

Sample Code

Combine select with case to build an interactive menu. Use PS3 to customize the prompt string.

menu.sh

#!/bin/bash
PS3="Choose an action: "

select action in "List files" "Show current directory" "Show date" "Quit"; do
    case "$action" in
        "List files")
            ls -la
            ;;
        "Show current directory")
            pwd
            ;;
        "Show date")
            date
            ;;
        "Quit")
            echo "Exiting."
            break
            ;;
        *)
            echo "Invalid selection (input: $REPLY)"
            ;;
    esac
done

bash menu.sh
1) List files
2) Show current directory
3) Show date
4) Quit
Choose an action: 2
/home/alice/project
Choose an action: 4
Exiting.

Generate a menu from an array and handle invalid number input.

lang_select.sh

PS3="Select a language: "
languages=("Bash" "Python" "PHP" "Kotlin" "Cancel")

select lang in "${languages[@]}"; do
    if [[ -z "$lang" ]]; then
        echo "Invalid number."
        continue
    fi
    if [[ "$lang" = "Cancel" ]]; then
        echo "Cancelled."
        break
    fi
    echo "Selected language: $lang (number: $REPLY)"
    break
done

bash lang_select.sh
1) Bash
2) Python
3) PHP
4) Kotlin
5) Cancel
Select a language: 3
Selected language: PHP (number: 3)

Notes

select works like a while loop internally — it keeps displaying the menu until you explicitly run break or the user presses Ctrl+D (EOF).

select cannot be used in non-interactive contexts such as pipelines or cron jobs. Only use it when user interaction is expected. For non-interactive environments, design your script to accept command-line arguments instead.

For handling command-line arguments, special variables $1–$9 and case statements are useful.

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