RadMultiSelect Object

Updated on Mar 2, 2026

This article lists the client-side API of RadMultiSelect and how to use it.

To use the API, you must first get a reference to the control's client-side object. For example:

JavaScript

var multiSelectObject = $find("<%=RadMultiSelect1.ClientID %>");

RadMultiSelect is a server-side wrapper over the Kendo UI MultiSelect Widget. Thus, it exposes the API of the underlying Kendo widget. To get a reference to the Kendo widget instance, you can do either of the following:

• Use the get_kendoWidget() method of the MS AJAX wrapper:

  JavaScript

    var multiSelectObject  = $find("<%=RadMultiSelect1.ClientID %>"); //the standard script control object
    var kendoMultiSelect = multiSelectObject.get_kendoWidget(); //the Kendo widget

• Get the Kendo Widget in its usual way. Make sure to use the $telerik._kendo.jQuery reference that has the Kendo widget data:

  JavaScript

    var kendoMultiSelect = $telerik._kendo.jQuery("#<%=RadMultiSelect1.ClientID %>").data("kendoMultiSelect"); //the jQuery selector must get the RadMultiSelect1 wrapper span element

As of the 2026 Q1 release, Kendo jQuery widget plugins and data are registered on $telerik._kendo.jQuery — a different jQuery instance from $telerik.$. If you use $telerik.$ with .data("kendoXxx"), it will return undefined. Always use $telerik._kendo.jQuery when accessing the underlying Kendo widget via the .data() method. The recommended approach, however, is to use the get_kendoWidget() method shown above.

In addition to using the Kendo method directly, you can also use their wrappers that follow the MS AJAX convention through the RadMultiSelect client object.

Table1: Client-side methods exposed by the MS AJAX RadMultiSelect object

Name	Parameters	Return Type	Description
clearValue	none	none	Clears the list of selected values (items).
close	none	none	Closes the dropdown.
dispose	none	none	Disposes the MultiSelect client-side object (calls its underlying Kendo widget's destroy method). Once you call it, you will not be able to use the widget or control.
focus	none	none	Focuses the input.
get_enabled	none	Boolean	Returns whether the control is enabled.
get_filter	none	Telerik.Web.UI.RadMultiSelectFilter	Returns the filter type of the control. The possible values are Telerik.Web.UI.RadMultiSelectFilter.StartsWith = 0, Telerik.Web.UI.RadMultiSelectFilter.Contains = 1 and Telerik.Web.UI.RadMultiSelectFilter.EndsWith = 2.
get_inputElement	none	DOM object	Returns a reference to the input element.
get_items	none	Array	Returns an array of the DOM <li> elements, which correspond to the data items from the Kendo UI DataSource of the widget.
get_kendoWidget	none	object	Returns a reference to the underlying Kendo MultiSelect widget.
get_listElement	none	DOM object	Returns a reference to the drop-down list element.
get_readOnly	none	Boolean	Returns whether the input is readonly and typing is not allowed.
get_selectedDataItems	none	Array	Returns a list of raw data records corresponding to the selected items.
get_tagListElement	none	DOM object	Returns a reference to the ul element, which holds the selected tags.
get_ulElement	none	DOM object	Returns a reference to the ul element, which holds the available options.
get_value	none	Array	Returns an array with the currently selected values (items).
open	none	none	Opens the popup.
refresh	none	none	Refresh the popup by rendering all items again.
search	string	none	Searches the data source for the provided value and displays any matches as suggestions.
set_enabled	Boolean	none	Enables or disables the widget if you pass true or false respectively.
set_enabled	Telerik.Web.UI.RadMultiSelectFilter	none	Sets the new filter type of the control. The possible values are Telerik.Web.UI.RadMultiSelectFilter.StartsWith = 0, Telerik.Web.UI.RadMultiSelectFilter.Contains = 1 and Telerik.Web.UI.RadMultiSelectFilter.EndsWith = 2.
set_readOnly	Boolean	none	Sets whether the input is readonly and typing is disabled.
set_value	string	none	Sets the value. See the underlying value method for more details on its behavior.
toggle	none	none	Opens or closes the dropdown depending on its current state.

See Also

• Live Demo - RadMultiSelect Client-side API

• RadMultiSelect Client-side Events