How do I auto-hide placeholder text upon focus using css or jquery?

Firefox 15 and IE 10+ also supports this now. To expand on Casey Chu's CSS solution:

input:focus::-webkit-input-placeholder { color:transparent; }
input:focus:-moz-placeholder { color:transparent; } /* FF 4-18 */
input:focus::-moz-placeholder { color:transparent; } /* FF 19+ */
input:focus:-ms-input-placeholder { color:transparent; } /* IE 10+ */

Here is a CSS-only solution (for now, only works in WebKit):

input:focus::-webkit-input-placeholder {
    opacity: 0;
}

have you tried placeholder attr?

<input id ="myID" type="text" placeholder="enter your text " />

-EDIT-

I see, try this then:

$(function () {

    $('#myId').data('holder', $('#myId').attr('placeholder'));

    $('#myId').focusin(function () {
        $(this).attr('placeholder', '');
    });
    $('#myId').focusout(function () {
        $(this).attr('placeholder', $(this).data('holder'));
    });


});

Test: http://jsfiddle.net/mPLFf/4/

-EDIT-

Actually, since placeholder should be used to describe the value, not the name of the input. I suggest the following alternative

html:

<label class="overlabel"> 
    <span>First Name</span>
    <input name="first_name" type="text" />
</label>

javascript:

$('.overlabel').each(function () {
    var $this = $(this);
    var field = $this.find('[type=text], [type=file], [type=email], [type=password], textarea');
    var span = $(this).find('> span');
    var onBlur = function () {
        if ($.trim(field.val()) == '') {
            field.val('');
            span.fadeIn(100);
        } else {
            span.fadeTo(100, 0);
        }
    };
    field.focus(function () {
        span.fadeOut(100);
    }).blur(onBlur);
    onBlur();
});

css:

.overlabel {
  border: 0.1em solid;
  color: #aaa;
  position: relative;
  display: inline-block;
  vertical-align: middle;
  min-height: 2.2em;
}
.overlabel span {
  position: absolute;
  left: 0;
  top: 0;
  white-space: nowrap;
  overflow: hidden;
  text-overflow: ellipsis;
}
.overlabel span, .overlabel input {
  text-align: left;
  font-size: 1em;
  line-height: 2em;
  padding: 0 0.5em;
  margin: 0;
  background: transparent;
  -webkit-appearance: none; /* prevent ios styling */
  border-width: 0;
  width: 100%;
  outline: 0;
}

Test:

http://jsfiddle.net/kwynwrcf/

To augment @casey-chu's and pirate rob's answer, here's a more cross browser compatible way:

    /* WebKit browsers */
input:focus::-webkit-input-placeholder { color:transparent; }

    /* Mozilla Firefox 4 to 18 */
input:focus:-moz-placeholder { color:transparent; }

    /* Mozilla Firefox 19+ */
input:focus::-moz-placeholder { color:transparent; }

    /* Internet Explorer 10+ */
input:focus:-ms-input-placeholder { color:transparent; }

Toni's answer is good, but I'd rather drop the ID and explicitly use input, that way all inputs with placeholder get the behavior:

<input type="text" placeholder="your text" />

Note that $(function(){ }); is the shorthand for $(document).ready(function(){ });:

$(function(){
    $('input').data('holder',$('input').attr('placeholder'));
    $('input').focusin(function(){
        $(this).attr('placeholder','');
    });
    $('input').focusout(function(){
        $(this).attr('placeholder',$(this).data('holder'));
    });
})

Demo.

I like to package this up in the name space and run on elements with the "placeholder" attribute...

$("[placeholder]").togglePlaceholder();

$.fn.togglePlaceholder = function() {
    return this.each(function() {
        $(this)
        .data("holder", $(this).attr("placeholder"))
        .focusin(function(){
            $(this).attr('placeholder','');
        })
        .focusout(function(){
            $(this).attr('placeholder',$(this).data('holder'));
        });
    });
};

To further refine Wallace Sidhrée's code sample:

$(function()
{  
      $('input').focusin(function()
      {
        input = $(this);
        input.data('place-holder-text', input.attr('placeholder'))
        input.attr('placeholder', '');
      });

      $('input').focusout(function()
      {
          input = $(this);
          input.attr('placeholder', input.data('place-holder-text'));
      });
})

This ensures that each input stores the correct placeholder text in the data attribute.

See a working example here in jsFiddle.

I like the css approach spiced with transitions. On Focus the placeholder fades out ;) Works also for textareas.

Thanks @Casey Chu for the great idea.

textarea::-webkit-input-placeholder, input::-webkit-input-placeholder { 
    color: #fff;
    opacity: 0.4;
    transition: opacity 0.5s;
    -webkit-transition: opacity 0.5s; 
}

textarea:focus::-webkit-input-placeholder, input:focus::-webkit-input-placeholder  { 
    opacity: 0;
}

Using SCSS along with http://bourbon.io/, this solution is simple, elegant, and works on all web browsers:

input:focus {
  @include placeholder() {
    color: transparent;
  }
}

Use Bourbon ! It's good for you !

Sometimes you need SPECIFICITY to make sure your styles are applied with strongest factor id Thanks for @Rob Fletcher for his great answer, in our company we have used

So please consider adding styles prefixed with the id of the app container

    #app input:focus::-webkit-input-placeholder, #app  textarea:focus::-webkit-input-placeholder {
        color: #FFFFFF;
    }

    #app input:focus:-moz-placeholder, #app textarea:focus:-moz-placeholder {
        color: #FFFFFF;
    }

This piece of CSS worked for me:

input:focus::-webkit-input-placeholder {
        color:transparent;

}

Building on @Hexodus and @Casey Chu's answers, here is an updated and cross-browser solution that leverages CSS opacity and transitions to fade the placeholder text out. It works for any element that can use placeholders, including textarea and input tags.

::-webkit-input-placeholder { opacity:1; -webkit-transition: opacity 0.5s; transition: opacity 0.5s; }
:-moz-placeholder { opacity:1; -moz-transition: opacity 0.5s; transition: opacity 0.5s; } /* FF 4-18 */
::-moz-placeholder { opacity:1; -moz-transition: opacity 0.5s; transition: opacity 0.5s; } /* FF 19+ */
:-ms-input-placeholder { opacity:1;  -ms-transition: opacity 0.5s; transition: opacity 0.5s; } /* IE 10+ */

*:focus::-webkit-input-placeholder { opacity:0; }
*:focus:-moz-placeholder { opacity:0; } /* FF 4-18 */
*:focus::-moz-placeholder { opacity:0; } /* FF 19+ */
*:focus:-ms-input-placeholder { opacity:0; } /* IE 10+ */

HTML:

<input type="text" name="name" placeholder="enter your text" id="myInput" />

jQuery:

$('#myInput').focus(function(){
  $(this).attr('placeholder','');
});
$('#myInput').focusout(function(){
  $(this).attr('placeholder','enter your text');
});

Demo is here: jsfiddle

Try this :

//auto-hide-placeholder-text-upon-focus
if(!$.browser.webkit){
$("input").each(
        function(){
            $(this).data('holder',$(this).attr('placeholder'));
            $(this).focusin(function(){
                $(this).attr('placeholder','');
            });
            $(this).focusout(function(){
                $(this).attr('placeholder',$(this).data('holder'));
            });

        });

}

for input

input:focus::-webkit-input-placeholder { color:transparent; }
input:focus:-moz-placeholder { color:transparent; }

for textarea

textarea:focus::-webkit-input-placeholder { color:transparent; }
textarea:focus:-moz-placeholder { color:transparent; }

$("input[placeholder]").focusin(function () {
    $(this).data('place-holder-text', $(this).attr('placeholder')).attr('placeholder', '');
})
.focusout(function () {
    $(this).attr('placeholder', $(this).data('place-holder-text'));
});

For a pure CSS based solution:

input:focus::-webkit-input-placeholder  {color:transparent;}
input:focus::-moz-placeholder   {color:transparent;}
input:-moz-placeholder   {color:transparent;}

Note: Not yet supported by all browser vendors.

Reference: Hide placeholder text on focus with CSS by Ilia Raiskin.

$("input[placeholder]").each(function () {
    $(this).attr("data-placeholder", this.placeholder);

    $(this).bind("focus", function () {
        this.placeholder = '';
    });
    $(this).bind("blur", function () {
        this.placeholder = $(this).attr("data-placeholder");
    });
});

Besides all of above,I have two ideas.

You can add an element that imitates the palceholder.Then using javascript control the element showing and hiding.

But it is so complex,the other one is using the brother's selector of css.Just like this:

.placeholder { position: absolute; font-size: 14px; left: 40px; top: 11px; line-height: 1; pointer-events: none; }
.send-message input:focus + .placeholder { display: none; } 

23333,I have a poor English.Hope solve your problem.

try this function:

+It Hides The PlaceHolder On Focus And Returns It Back On Blur

+This function depends on the placeholder selector, first it selects the elements with the placeholder attribute, triggers a function on focusing and another one on blurring.

on focus : it adds an attribute "data-text" to the element which gets its value from the placeholder attribute then it removes the value of the placeholder attribute.

on blur : it returns back the placeholder value and removes it from the data-text attribute

<input type="text" placeholder="Username" />

$('[placeholder]').focus(function() {
    $(this).attr('data-text', $(this).attr('placeholder'));
    $(this).attr('placeholder', '');
  }).blur(function() {
      $(this).attr('placeholder', $(this).attr('data-text'));
      $(this).attr('data-text', '');
  });
});

you can follow me very well if you look what's happening behind the scenes by inspecting the input element