change edittext cursor color

Question

How can I change EditText's cursor's color programmatically ?

In android 4.0 and above, cursor color is white. and if EditTexts background is also white, it becomes invisible.

score 125 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:17

125

In your EditText properties, there is an attribute android:textCursorDrawable

Now set it to @null like,

android:textCursorDrawable="@null"

So now your EditText Cursor is same as your EditText TextColor.

Reference From Set EditText cursor color

edited May 23 '17 at 12:17

Community

1
1

answered Jul 25 '12 at 12:04

user370305

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5

I need it programmatically, not xml based – Adem Jul 25 '12 at 12:24
1

@Adem if you set this in the XML you can set any color programatically as the text color. – user363349 Apr 23 '13 at 15:02
3

This also doesn't work for the question asked, which is how to set it *programatically*. – Adrian Oct 02 '13 at 11:40
@Adrian - I know the rules of Stack. But just consider the edited time of question also. Because it edited `"programatically"` after my answer. Anyway :-) – user370305 Oct 02 '13 at 17:01
You can set the text color programmatically, which changes the cursor color at run time, programmatically, have some critical thinking skills. – Dave S Sep 17 '14 at 22:48
People who don't accept a good answer, should be lose reputation or at least shotted. – JJ86 Mar 05 '15 at 11:14
3

The OP wants to do it via by code and not xml layouts so therefore this is not the correct answer – Jono May 28 '15 at 10:28
2

@user370305 this makes the cursor look very thin and almost non visible – Dipanshu Awasthi Jan 18 '17 at 09:43

score 30 · Answer 2 · edited Jul 08 '14 at 15:10

I found a way to fix this. It is not the greatest solution, but it works.

Unfortunately, I can only use static color for the cursor color.

First, I define a black cursor in drawable

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" android:shape="rectangle">
    <solid android:color="#ff000000"/>
    <size android:width="1dp"/>
</shape>

Next I define a sample EditText in layouts.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<EditText xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:textCursorDrawable="@drawable/blackpipe"
         >
    </EditText>

When I want to create an EditText at runtime, I use this:

AttributeSet editText30AttributeSet = null;
int res = getResources().getIdentifier("edit30", "layout", getPackageName());//edit30 is EditText layout
XmlPullParser parser = getResources().getXml(res);
int state=0;
do {
    try {
        state = parser.next();
    } catch (Exception e1) {
        e1.printStackTrace();
    }       
    if (state == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
        if (parser.getName().equals("EditText")) {
            editText30AttributeSet = Xml.asAttributeSet(parser);
            break;
        }
    }
} while(state != XmlPullParser.END_DOCUMENT);
EditText view = new EditText(getContext(),editText30AttributeSet);

Now you have an EditText view that has a black cursor. Maybe somebody can improve on my solution so that the cursor can be changed at runtime.

Great job, thank you! Works like a charm for custom EditText component. — Divers, Mar 26 '14 at 11:44

Jared Rummler · Answer 3 · 2015-06-16T11:58:55.690

Here is, what I think, a better solution than what @Adem posted.

Java:

try {
    // https://github.com/android/platform_frameworks_base/blob/kitkat-release/core/java/android/widget/TextView.java#L562-564
    Field f = TextView.class.getDeclaredField("mCursorDrawableRes");
    f.setAccessible(true);
    f.set(yourEditText, R.drawable.cursor);
} catch (Exception ignored) {
}

XML:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:shape="rectangle" >

    <solid android:color="#ff000000" />

    <size android:width="1dp" />

</shape>

kc ochibili · Answer 4 · 2020-11-04T05:17:54.283

improving on Jared Rummler's answer

Java:

try {
    // https://github.com/android/platform_frameworks_base/blob/kitkat-release/core/java/android/widget/TextView.java#L562-564
    Field f = TextView.class.getDeclaredField("mCursorDrawableRes");
    f.setAccessible(true);
    f.set(yourEditText, R.drawable.custom_cursor);
} catch (Exception ignored) {
}

create custom_cursor.xml in res/drawable folder:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:shape="rectangle" >

    <solid android:color="#ff000000" />

    <size android:width="1dp" />
</shape>

XML:

<EditText xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:textCursorDrawable="@drawable/custom_cursor"
     >
</EditText>

score 8 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 16 '15 at 15:00

8

What about the styles.xml using AppCompat-v7?

<item name="colorControlNormal">@color/accentColor</item>
<item name="colorControlActivated">@color/accentColor</item>
<item name="colorControlHighlight">@color/accentColor</item>

Works for me (this example is simplistic).

answered Apr 16 '15 at 15:00

shkschneider

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Do these accents apply for EditText cursors on pre-Lollipop devices for you? – Anthony Chuinard May 20 '15 at 22:15
No, it then takes the default system's cursor (sadly). Good answers have been posted since, way more complete. – shkschneider May 21 '15 at 08:05

score 3 · Answer 6 · edited May 24 '16 at 07:58

3

You may Set the android:textCursorDrawable attribute to @null that will result in the use of android:textColor as the cursor color.

Attribute textCursorDrawable is available in API level 12 and higher...

Thanks...

edited May 24 '16 at 07:58

V-rund Puro-hit

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answered Mar 09 '15 at 09:59

Aj 27

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score 2 · Answer 7 · answered May 10 '18 at 04:37

Set Via AppTheme

<style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar"><!-- Customize your theme here. -->
    <item name="windowNoTitle">true</item>
    <item name="windowActionBar">false</item>
    <item name="colorPrimary">@color/colorPrimary</item>
    <item name="colorPrimaryDark">@color/colorPrimaryDark</item>
    <item name="colorAccent">@color/colorAccent</item>
    <item name="android:spinnerStyle">@style/spinner_style</item>
    <!--Add This-->
    <item name="editTextStyle">@style/EdittextStyle</item>
    <item name="android:dropDownListViewStyle">@style/SpinnerStyle</item>
</style>

<!--New EditText Style-->
<style name="EdittextStyle" parent="Widget.AppCompat.EditText">
    <item name="android:background">?attr/editTextBackground</item>
    <item name="android:textColor">?attr/editTextColor</item>
    <item name="android:textAppearance">?android:attr/textAppearanceMediumInverse</item>
    <!--<item name="android:textCursorDrawable">@drawable/abc_text_cursor_material</item>-->
    <item name="colorControlNormal">@color/colorAccent</item>
    <item name="colorControlActivated">@color/colorAccent</item>
    <item name="colorControlHighlight">@color/colorAccent</item>

</style>

Sergey Galin · Answer 8 · 2015-06-30T11:30:41.227

1

So, here's the final version - doesn't need the XML and works as @null but programmatically:

try {
    Field f = TextView.class.getDeclaredField("mCursorDrawableRes");
    f.setAccessible(true);
    f.set((TextView)yourEditText, 0);
} catch (Exception ignored) {
}

The only problem is that it may stop working one day with some new version of Android.

PS I tested it on 4.1.2 to 5.1.

edited Jun 30 '15 at 11:30

answered Jun 30 '15 at 10:38

Sergey Galin

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change edittext cursor color

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