How do I add a newline to a TextView in Android?

Question

When I define a TextView in xml, how do I add a new line to it? \n seems not to work.

<TextView
   android:id="@+id/txtTitlevalue"
   android:text="Line1 -\nLine2"
   android:layout_width="54dip"
   android:layout_height="fill_parent"
   android:textSize="11px" />

Your code does work for me. What do you get instead of multiline text? — molnarm, May 15 '10 at 16:39

score 321 · Accepted Answer · answered May 16 '10 at 04:51

321

Don't trust the Visual editor. Your code does work in the emu.

answered May 16 '10 at 04:51

Macarse

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well, in my case, the Visual editor was telling the truth. It was adding another backslash to display the backslash. The correct way was putting the text inside the xml file. – dp2050 Apr 07 '20 at 04:03
Visual editor said: "Why you don't trust me?" LOL – Titus Sutio Fanpula Apr 30 '21 at 13:39

Christian · Answer 2 · 2015-03-24T13:58:56.690

94

Try:

android:lines="2"

\n should work.

edited Mar 24 '15 at 13:58

answered Mar 18 '11 at 01:41

Christian

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my textview could be longer than 2 lines. Its a control. It can be just about anything. – dropsOfJupiter Mar 18 '11 at 01:44

score 46 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 30 '12 at 05:35

46

try System.getProperty("line.separator");

answered Apr 30 '12 at 05:35

kakopappa

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score 44 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 18 '11 at 06:53

44

I think this has something to do with your HTM.fromHtml(subTitle) call: a "\n" doesn't mean bupkis to HTML. Try <br/> instead of "\n".

answered Mar 18 '11 at 06:53

resnbl

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@androidevAlex That's because it's
, not – Ilya Kogan Feb 03 '13 at 20:39

score 22 · Answer 5 · edited Apr 29 '13 at 20:28

22

Tried all the above, did some research of my own resulting in the following solution for rendering line feed escape chars:

string = string.replace("\\\n", System.getProperty("line.separator"));

Using the replace method you need to filter escaped linefeeds (e.g. '\\\n')
Only then each instance of line feed '\n' escape chars gets rendered into the actual linefeed

For this example I used a Google Apps Scripting noSQL database (ScriptDb) with JSON formated data.

Cheers :D

edited Apr 29 '13 at 20:28

Jared

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answered Apr 29 '13 at 20:03

Robert

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This worked for me: replace("\\n", System.getProperty("line.separator")); – slott Apr 21 '15 at 08:47
rather, string = string.replaceAll("\\\n", System.getProperty("line.separator")); – user846316 Oct 25 '15 at 21:32

score 22 · Answer 6 · answered Sep 30 '11 at 14:17

22

First, put this in your textview:

android:maxLines="10"

Then use \n in the text of your textview.

maxLines makes the TextView be at most this many lines tall. You may choose another number :)

answered Sep 30 '11 at 14:17

aF.

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score 11 · Answer 7 · edited Aug 23 '18 at 07:53

11

Make sure your \n is in "\n" for it to work.

edited Aug 23 '18 at 07:53

AskNilesh

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answered Mar 18 '11 at 01:38

Justin

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score 10 · Answer 8 · edited Mar 03 '16 at 14:00

10

<TextView
   android:id="@+id/txtTitlevalue"
   android:text="Line1: \r\n-Line2\r\n-Line3"
   android:layout_width="54dip"
   android:layout_height="fill_parent"
   android:textSize="11px" />

I think this will work.

edited Mar 03 '16 at 14:00

Ziem

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answered May 18 '14 at 11:59

user3578286

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score 9 · Answer 9 · edited Mar 03 '16 at 13:47

9

I just solve the same problem, put below attributes in xml

android:lines="2" android:maxLines="4" android:singleLine="false"

work.Html.fromHtml("text1 <br> text2").toString() also work.

edited Mar 03 '16 at 13:47

duggu

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answered Jan 03 '13 at 10:49

Ben Wong

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This is still relevant, thanks! I had maxLines, but I didn't have singleLine=false. – blast_hardcheese Oct 18 '13 at 10:17
This is the only solution which worked from me. Thanks! – Silas Dec 01 '18 at 23:26

score 9 · Answer 10 · answered Oct 12 '15 at 20:51

9

My 2 cents, using Android TV.

Add \n in XML strings, while reading:

public void setSubtitle(String subtitle) {
    this.subtitle = subtitle.replace("\\n", System.getProperty("line.separator"));
}

answered Oct 12 '15 at 20:51

ATOzTOA

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score 8 · Answer 11 · answered Nov 18 '13 at 10:04

8

This solved my problem.

stringVar.replaceAll("\\\\n", "\\\n");

answered Nov 18 '13 at 10:04

viki

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score 8 · Answer 12 · edited Aug 23 '18 at 07:55

8

One way of doing this is using Html tags::

txtTitlevalue.setText(Html.fromHtml("Line1"+"<br>"+"Line2" + " <br>"+"Line3"));

edited Aug 23 '18 at 07:55

AskNilesh

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answered Dec 15 '16 at 17:03

garry

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score 7 · Answer 13 · edited Aug 23 '18 at 07:55

7

Also you can add <br> instead of \n.

And then you can add text to TexView:

articleTextView.setText(Html.fromHtml(textForTextView));

edited Aug 23 '18 at 07:55

AskNilesh

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answered Jul 19 '11 at 09:50

mobiledev Alex

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Not in the XML you can't. It gives a compile error - `android:text` can't contain < or > characters. – Timmmm Oct 22 '12 at 12:12

score 6 · Answer 14 · edited Mar 03 '16 at 14:00

6

System.getProperty("line.separator"); this work for me.

edited Mar 03 '16 at 14:00

Ziem

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answered Dec 16 '14 at 16:19

João Victor

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How did you use this? – SMBiggs Oct 18 '22 at 21:25

score 6 · Answer 15 · edited Aug 23 '18 at 07:55

6

If you debug, you will see that the string is actually "\ \r\ \n" or "\ \n", ie, it is escaped. So if you massage that string, to get rid of the extra \, you will have your solution. This is true especially if you are reading from a database.

edited Aug 23 '18 at 07:55

AskNilesh

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answered Aug 10 '11 at 18:45

Tilottama Gaat

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score 5 · Answer 16 · edited Aug 23 '18 at 07:56

5

You need to put the "\n" in the strings.xml file not within the page layout.

edited Aug 23 '18 at 07:56

AskNilesh

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answered Jul 16 '12 at 04:33

epicness42

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This worked for me, where Visual Editor was adding extra backslashes trying to display the backslash in \n – dp2050 Apr 07 '20 at 04:23

Danny · Answer 17 · 2013-02-25T11:33:31.237

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Need to keep

1.android:maxLines="no of lines"

2.And use \n for getting of the next Lines

edited Feb 25 '13 at 11:33

answered Feb 21 '13 at 09:27

Danny

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Rob · Answer 18 · 2018-05-20T22:52:18.850

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For me the solution was to add the following line to the layout:

<LinearLayout
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    ...
    >

And \n shows up as a new line in the visual editor. Hope it helps!

edited May 20 '18 at 22:52

answered May 20 '18 at 22:21

Rob

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I am not sure if it's related to the question :) – Suleyman May 20 '18 at 22:33
I had the same problem that instead of a new line the string "\n" just showed up itself. When i added the line above this wans't the case anymore and the new line showed up – Rob May 20 '18 at 22:44
1

Maybe it's because you were using `tools:text` and not `android:text` like the OP, but anyways sorry for disturbing :) – Suleyman May 20 '18 at 22:50
I think i should have clarified it better, thanks to your comment i now did :) I use `android:text` I think it's just a bug of the visual editor, like the acceptet answer suggests but it is more comfortable to be able to see it :) – Rob May 20 '18 at 22:55
Yeah, I understand now, you are right it is more comfortable :) thanks – Suleyman May 20 '18 at 23:07
This should be the chosen answer, as it provides practical help instead of just reassurance. – Matan Koby Feb 12 '19 at 10:47

score 3 · Answer 19 · edited Aug 23 '18 at 07:56

3

You need to put \n in the file string.xml

<string name="strtextparkcar">press Park my Car to store location \n</string>

edited Aug 23 '18 at 07:56

AskNilesh

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answered Mar 16 '14 at 12:09

simmash

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score 3 · Answer 20 · answered Jul 23 '18 at 16:54

3

 android:text="Previous Line &#10; Next Line"

This will work.

answered Jul 23 '18 at 16:54

Viral Parmar

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No, it doesn't. – shazbot Aug 11 '18 at 20:39
You need to run in emulator to see it work. Thanks – Viral Parmar Aug 13 '18 at 02:02

score 3 · Answer 21 · edited Nov 26 '19 at 09:34

3

Try this:

android:text="Lorem Ipsum \nDolor Ait Amet \nLorem Ipsum"

edited Nov 26 '19 at 09:34

4b0

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answered Nov 26 '19 at 09:28

Muss Mesmari

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OP tried almost exactly this but had a leading "-" in his example. If the space in your suggestion makes a difference I would elaborate on that in the answer. – Omnibyte Jun 13 '22 at 09:11

score 2 · Answer 22 · answered Mar 18 '16 at 07:33

2

This works fine. Check it for your app.

<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Text 1\nText 2\nText 3"/>

answered Mar 18 '16 at 07:33

Palani kumar

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score 2 · Answer 23 · edited Nov 26 '19 at 10:36

2

Just try:

Textview_name.settext("something \n  new line "):

In Java file.

edited Nov 26 '19 at 10:36

4b0

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answered Jun 26 '19 at 19:01

user11705013

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Please provide a proper answer to question, otherwise use comment – DjSh Jun 26 '19 at 19:22

score 1 · Answer 24 · edited Aug 23 '18 at 07:56

1

Make sure you are using your_package.R and not android.R

edited Aug 23 '18 at 07:56

AskNilesh

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answered Jan 13 '13 at 19:15

Dror

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score 1 · Answer 25 · answered Jun 18 '14 at 02:37

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RuDrA05's answer is good, When I edit the XML on eclipse it does not work, but when I edit the XML with notepad++ it DOES work.

The same thing is happening if I read a txt file saved with eclipse or notepad++

Maybe is related to the encoding.

answered Jun 18 '14 at 02:37

Sebastian Corradi

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score 1 · Answer 26 · answered Feb 14 '17 at 12:17

1

Side note: Capitalising text using

android:inputType="textCapCharacters"

or similar seems to stop the \n from working.

answered Feb 14 '17 at 12:17

Voy

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score 0 · Answer 27 · edited Aug 18 '15 at 06:59

0

for the new line in TextView just add \n in middle of your text it works..

edited Aug 18 '15 at 06:59

nifCody

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answered Jul 09 '15 at 12:08

Nikhil Borad

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but answer relates to the question [link](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2840608/how-do-i-add-a-newline-to-a-textview-in-android) Not "YOUR" question... – Nikhil Borad Jul 10 '15 at 09:49
omg..sorry confused by me.please edit your answer..I change my vote positive. – Ranjithkumar Jul 10 '15 at 10:55
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hey first edit your answer. else I can`t change my vote. – Ranjithkumar Jul 10 '15 at 11:21

score 0 · Answer 28 · edited Aug 23 '16 at 13:21

0

If the TextView is in any Layout (LinearLayout for example), try to change the orientation attribute to vertical as android:orientation="vertical" for the layout or change the TextView attribute android:singleLine="true" to create a new line after it.

edited Aug 23 '16 at 13:21

Alex

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answered Aug 23 '16 at 11:47

Pavani

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score 0 · Answer 29 · answered May 02 '20 at 21:34

0

Programatically: myTV.setText("My Text" + "\n" + myString);

answered May 02 '20 at 21:34

LKS

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score 0 · Answer 30 · answered May 25 '20 at 17:24

Create a string in your stings.xml

<resources>
    ...
    <string name="new_line">\u000A</string>
</resources>

Then in you code reference the string

val linkString = "This is in the first line.${getString(R.string.new_line)}This is on the second line."

score 0 · Answer 31 · answered Jul 20 '20 at 10:52

0

Go to values> strings inside add string

CHOOSE YOUR CATEGORY"\n"TO WATCH

use "\n" to add new line

then add the string name inside the text view

android:text="@string/category"

answered Jul 20 '20 at 10:52

Deepak Pradhan

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S_R · Answer 32 · 2022-12-15T17:24:49.697

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You can get text in next line by simply adding android:orientation="vertical" in linear layout in activity.main.xml

edited Dec 15 '22 at 17:24

answered Dec 15 '22 at 17:22

S_R

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How do I add a newline to a TextView in Android?

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