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How to set part of text to Bold when using AlertDialog's setMessage()? Adding <b> and </b> to my String doesn't work.

0xC0DED00D
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SuitUp
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5 Answers5

112

You need to use Html.fromHtml() too. For example:

AlertDialog.setMessage(Html.fromHtml("Hello "+"<b>"+"World"+"</b>"));

Update:
Looks like Html.fromHtml(String source) has been deprecated in the Latest Android Nougat version. Although deprecation doesn't mean that you need to change your code now, but it's a good practice to remove deprecated code from your app as soon as possible.
The replacement is Html.fromHtml(String source, int flags). You just need to add an additional parameter mentioning a flag. 

if (android.os.Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= android.os.Build.VERSION_CODES.N) {
   AlertDialog.setMessage(Html.fromHtml("Hello "+"<b>"+"World"+"</b>", Html.FROM_HTML_MODE_LEGACY));
} else {
   @Suppress("DEPRECATION")
   AlertDialog.setMessage(Html.fromHtml("Hello "+"<b>"+"World"+"</b>"));
}

For more details have a look at this answer.

Ollie
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0xC0DED00D
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    PS:Works for TextView, havn't checked for AlertDialog. – 0xC0DED00D Mar 30 '12 at 01:07
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    you can use HtmlCompat.fromHtml(string str , flag) where you can use HtmlCompat.FROM_HTML_MODE_LEGACY as the flag, so that you avoid os version checking – Aleyam Oct 16 '19 at 05:21
25

This page describes how to add HTML formatting to resource strings.

<resources>
    <string name="welcome_messages">Hello, %1$s! You have &lt;b>%2$d new messages&lt;/b>.  
    </string>
</resources>

And do not forget to use: Html.fromHtml

AlertDialog.setMessage(Html.fromHtml(getString(R.string.welcome_messages)));

This works for me

elirigobeli
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1

In case if anyone wants to add only a single string:

<string name="abouttxt">&lt;b>Enter license key&lt;/b></string>

Add this line in your Alertdialog code.

dialog.setTitle(Html.fromHtml(getString(R.string.abouttxt)))
Prajwal Waingankar
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1

None of these solutions worked for me, but I am required to use an older version of the API so I could not use Html.fromHtml. To bold part of the text for an AlertDialog I had to use a SpannableString.

String msgPart1 = getString(R.string.PartOneOfMessage);
SpannableString msg = new SpannableString(msgPart1 + " " + boldTextString + " " + getString(R.string.PartTwoOfMessage));
msg.setSpan(new StyleSpan(Typeface.BOLD), msgPart1.length() + 1, msgPart1.length() + datumName.length() + 1, Spanned.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE);
AlertDialog.setMessage(msg);

I am not saying this is the best way, but it was the way that worked for me.

Fred
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0
<string name="abouttxt">"<b>Info</b>\ntexttxtxtxtxt"</string>

this works for me in xml

chris
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