# Radio button
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Graphical user interface control element
"Option button" redirects here. For the key in Apple keyboards, see [Option key](/source/Option_key).
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Four options on a radio button. When a new option is chosen, the previously chosen option is unselected.
A **radio button** or **option button**[1] is a graphical control element that allows the user to choose only one of a predefined set of mutually exclusive options.[2] The singular property of a radio button makes it distinct from [checkboxes](/source/Checkbox), where the user can select and unselect any number of items.
Radio buttons are arranged in groups of two or more and displayed on screen as, for example, a list of circular holes that can contain white space (for unselected) or a dot (for selected). Each radio button is normally accompanied by a label describing the choice that the radio button represents. The choices are mutually exclusive; when the user selects a radio button, any previously selected radio button in the same group becomes deselected (making it so only one can be selected). Selecting a radio button is done by clicking the mouse on (or touching the screen over) the button, or the caption, or by using a keyboard shortcut.
## Etymology
A radio with a row of five pop-out buttons
Radio buttons are named after the physical buttons that were used on [radios](/source/Radio_receiver#Broadcast_radio_receivers) to select preset stations.[3][2] When one of the buttons is pressed, the other buttons pop out while leaving the pushed one pressed in.
## HTML
In [web forms](/source/Form_(web)), the [HTML element](/source/HTML_element) is used to display a radio button. Example:
A group of attributes is defined by name. In one group, only one radio button can be chosen.
## Unicode
Version of the [Unicode](/source/Unicode) standard includes a character designated to represent a radio button: U+1F518 🔘 RADIO BUTTON, found in the [Miscellaneous Symbols and Pictographs](/source/Miscellaneous_Symbols_and_Pictographs) section. Similar characters are the [mathematical operator](/source/Mathematical_operator) U+2299 ⊙ CIRCLED DOT OPERATOR as well as U+25C9 ◉ FISHEYE and U+25CE ◎ BULLSEYE and others resembling a [circled dot](/source/Circled_dot).
The font [Wingdings](/source/Wingdings) 2 contains at position 153 and 158 [glyphs](/source/Glyph) that look like radio buttons.
## See also
- [Checkbox](/source/Checkbox)
## References
1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["About Option Buttons"](https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E14004_01/books/Fundamentals/fund_aboutrecordsfields006.htm). *docs.oracle.com*. Retrieved 2025-02-02.
1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-micro_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-micro_2-1) ["Radio Buttons"](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dn742436(v=vs.85).aspx). *Windows Dev Center*. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
1. **[^](#cite_ref-jit_3-0)** Yumashev, Alex. ["The history of a radio-button"](https://www.jitbit.com/alexblog/242-the-history-of-a-radio-button/). *JitBit Founders Blog*. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
## External links
- [RFC](/source/RFC_(identifier)) [1866](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1866): the HTML 2.0 specification, which defined radio buttons on the web.
- [W3 HTML 4.01 Specification](http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/interact/forms.html#radio)
- Usage of radio buttons in [Sun's Java Programming Tutorial](http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/uiswing/components/button.html#radiobutton)
- [Nielsen, Jakob](/source/Jakob_Nielsen_(usability_consultant)) (September 27, 2004). ["Checkboxes vs. Radio Buttons"](http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20040927.html). *[Nielsen Norman Group](/source/Nielsen_Norman_Group)* (article). [Fremont, California]. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
v t e Graphical control elements Command input Adjustment handle Button Context menu Drop-down list Hamburger button Menu Pie menu Data input-output Checkbox Color picker Combo box Cycle button Date picker Grid view Toggle switch List box List builder Radio button Scrollbar Search box Slider Spinner Text box Informational Balloon help Head-up display in computing HUD in video games Icon Infobar Label Loading screen Progress indicator Progress bar Splash screen Throbber Sidebar Status bar Toast Tooltip Containers Accordion Tree view Client-side decoration Disclosure widget Frame / Fieldset Menu bar Panel Popover Ribbon Tab Toolbar Window Window decoration Workspace Navigational Address bar Bookmarks bar Breadcrumb navigation Hyperlink Navigation bar Virtual desktop Special windows Alert dialog box Dialog box File dialog Inspector window Modal window Palette window Related concepts File viewer List of graphical user interface elements Layout manager Look and feel Mouseover Scrolling Widget toolkit WIMP Zoomable user interface
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Radio button](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_button) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_button?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.