Setting the height of a SELECT in IE

Use a UI library, like jquery or yui, that provides an alternative to the native SELECT element, typically as part of the implementation of a combo box.

Even though setting a CSS height value to the select element does not work, the padding attribute works alright. Setting a top and bottom padding will make your select element look taller.

Finally found in http://viralpatel.net/blogs/2009/09/setting-height-selectbox-combobox-ie.html a simple solution (at least for IE8):

font-size:      1.0em;

BTW, for Google Chrome, found this workaround at How to standardize the height of a select box between Chrome and Firefox? */

-webkit-appearance: menulist-button;

select{
  *zoom: 1.6;
  *font-size: 9px;
}

If you change properties, size of select will change also in IE7.

See also inconsistent box model between input, select, ...