How to add a “readonly” attribute to an <input>?

jQuery <1.9

$('#inputId').attr('readonly', true);

jQuery 1.9+

$('#inputId').prop('readonly', true);

Read more about difference between prop and attr

Use $.prop()

$("#descrip").prop("readonly",true);

$("#descrip").prop("readonly",false);

Readonly is an attribute as defined in html, so treat it like one.

You need to have something like readonly="readonly" in the object you are working with if you want it not to be editable. And if you want it to be editable again you won't have something like readonly='' (this is not standard if I understood correctly). You really need to remove the attribute as a whole.

As such, while using jquery adding it and removing it is what makes sense.

Set something readonly:

$("#someId").attr('readonly', 'readonly');

Remove readonly:

$("#someId").removeAttr('readonly');

This was the only alternative that really worked for me. Hope it helps!