Remove the cell highlight color of UITableView

Question

I want to remove the default blue color of uitableview cell selection. I don't want any selection color there. I have not created a custom cell class. I'm customizing the cell by adding labels and buttons over it. I tried doing:

cell.selectioncolor = [UIColor clearcolor];

but it says that this method is deprecated.

Answer 1

In Swift:

cell.selectionStyle = UITableViewCell.SelectionStyle.none

or simply:

cell.selectionStyle = .none

Answer 2

In the Storyboard or XIB Attributes Inspector, set Selection to None.

---

Answer 3

Objective-C:

cell.selectionStyle = UITableViewCellSelectionStyleNone;

// or 

[cell setSelectionStyle:UITableViewCellSelectionStyleNone];

Swift 3+:

cell.selectionStyle = UITableViewCellSelectionStyle.none;

// or

cell.selectionStyle = .none

Swift 2:

cell.selectionStyle = UITableViewCellSelectionStyle.None

If you want to change it just using Interface Builder Storyboard/Xib, select the cell that you want to remove the "Selection Style Effect" and define it as "None". It'll work like magic as well :D

Answer 4

Swift 3.0

cell.selectionStyle = .none

Answer 5

// Swift 2.0

cell.selectionStyle = UITableViewCellSelectionStyle.None

Answer 6

Setting the TableView Selection style to .none was affecting the responsiveness and performance of the tableview in my app (didSelectRowAt indexPath taps were getting delayed). My solution to this problem was to hide the selected background view on awakeFromNib() when the cell is first created:

selectedBackgroundView?.isHidden = true

Answer 7

Do note that every answer which mentions "selectionStyle" is completely wrong.

selectionStyle determines whether or not you can click on the cell.

It has nothing to do with whether the cell is turned "gray" when you click on it.

The only way to turn off the "gray effect" (when you click on it) is like this:

class YourCell:  UITableViewCell {
    
    override func didMoveToSuperview() {
        selectedBackgroundView?.isHidden = true
    }

    ...
}

Note that selectedBackgroundView is indeed available on the storyboard.

I wouldn't fool with it because the lifecycle is so strange, but note that these days, indeed you can get at selectedBackgroundView on the storyboard. It's possible you could handle it in there.

The answer by @fingia, see below.

Regarding the question on this page, how to "remove the cell highlight color", notice that the @fingiua answer correctly states that you adjust selectedBackgroundView. However, it states that what you do is change the background color.

This used to work in the past to some extent and is still possible in certain situations but it's a hell of a task figuring out when in the lifecycle you have to set the color - because, UIKit itself is constantly setting the color! (For example, if you do it in the obvious didMoveToSuperview or prepareForReuse ... it simply doesn't work.)

This is a great example of how, on the internet, for obscure yet critical issues, there is often a lot of VERY OLD example code on the internet, which gets copied endlessly, which is either just wrong or "half wrong", but still gets copied endlessly.

There's no reason at all you'd fool with the color, because what you want to do is simply ... hide it. So just hide it. This (of course) works reliably (indeed, you can do so anywhere at all in the view cycle, once it's hidden that's the end of it).

Answer 8

Try this for swift

cell?.selectionStyle = UITableViewCellSelectionStyle.None

Answer 9

right answer should be:

cell.selectedBackgroundView?.backgroundColor = <choose your color>

The selection type is a different property that when set to .none produces what you want PLUS other unwanted side-effects.

If you do not want the cell to be highlighted, then make its background view's color the same as when it is not highlighted.

Answer 10

Swift 5.4 , just put the selectionStyle = .none

Example:

class TableViewCell: UITableViewCell {

 override func awakeFromNib() {
    super.awakeFromNib()
    
    selectionStyle = .none 

}

Answer 11

Swift 5:

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
    let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "cell")
    cell.selectionStyle = .none
    
    return cell
}