How to make Android EditText expand vertically when full

Question

I have this EditText

<EditText
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="72dp"
    android:hint="@string/write_message"
    android:textColorHint="@color/primary_color"
    android:ems="10"
    android:imeOptions="actionDone"
    android:inputType="textImeMultiLine"
    android:id="@+id/message_input"
    android:layout_gravity="center_horizontal"
    android:backgroundTint="@color/primary_color"/>

When the box is filled up with user inputted text, it scrolls to the right to make room for more text, I do not like this behavior, and would prefer it if the EditText box expanded upwards when it needs more room? Is there a way to do this? Thanks.

score 35 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 30 '14 at 02:49

Yes, this actually involves two things:

Making the EditText accept multi-line input.
Having its height grow as more text lines are added.

Therefore, to achieve this, you need to set up:

android:inputType="textMultiLine"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"

(Be mindful of the difference between textMultiLine and textImeMultiLine).

The full XML snippet would be:

<EditText
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:inputType="textMultiLine"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:hint="@string/write_message"
    android:textColorHint="@color/primary_color"
    android:ems="10"
    android:imeOptions="actionDone"
    android:id="@+id/message_input"
    android:layout_gravity="center_horizontal"
    android:backgroundTint="@color/primary_color"/>

The `imeOptions` will be ignored if `inputType` is `textMultiline` — Eliezer, Jul 10 '15 at 01:17

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 19 '20 at 07:20

2

Use both flags: textMultiLine will wrap your input, and textImeMultiLine will provide a break-line key in your keyboard.

 <EditText
    ...
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:inputType="textImeMultiLine|textMultiLine"
    ... />

answered Oct 19 '20 at 07:20

Mardann

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score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 25 '20 at 14:55

In my case I have multiline text, but it showed one line and a keyboard:

Though I have already set android:inputType="textCapSentences|textAutoCorrect|textMultiLine", it didn't help. Then I understood that when the keyboard appears in DialogFragment, it collapses the EditText. See DialogFragment and force to show keyboard to show keyboard when DialogFragment shows.

Then I added a short delay (100-300 ms) before showing the keyboard. Now I have:

In AndroidManifest I set android:windowSoftInputMode="adjustResize" for current activity.

How to make Android EditText expand vertically when full

3 Answers3

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