JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground
HTML
<textarea id="mytext" rows="10" cols="30">
Really long text goes here
</textarea>
<br/>
<button onclick="doIt();">Click Me</button>
JavaScript
var doIt = function() {
var elem = document.getElementById("mytext");
var start = elem.selectionStart;
var end = elem.selectionEnd;
var selection = elem.selection;
alert("selectionStart: " + start
+ "\nselectionEnd :" + end
+ "\nselection: " + selection);
}