How to remove space on the left side of Android searchview (which is not part of actionbar)?

Question

I am using a searchview in android app (searchview is not a part of action bar). I want to remove the space on the left side of the search icon/ searchview. I searched a lot and received answers which worked for searchviews which are part of action bar.

I tried using android:layout_gravity, android:gravity, but they didnt seem to work. I thought of using android:contentInsetStart, android:contentInsetLeft, but these options are not available for searchview (which is not a part of action bar).

[http://postimg.org/image/xz6pf8yp5/][1]

(cant post image directly here since my reputation is less than 10)

The serchview is in LinearLayout (vertical orientation). Here is the code which I am using :

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    app:layout_behavior="@string/appbar_scrolling_view_behavior"
    tools:context=".MainActivity"
    tools:showIn="@layout/activity_main">

    <SearchView
        android:id="@+id/searchView1"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:paddingTop="2dp"
        android:layout_gravity="left"
        android:gravity="left"
        />

    <ListView
        android:id="@+id/listView1"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:background="@android:color/white" />

</LinearLayout>

I am a bit late to this one but if you didn't solve this, check out my answer below. — Bulwinkel, Aug 23 '16 at 05:00

score 16 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 23 '16 at 04:57

The image link posted above no longer works, so I am going to assume that this is the same problem I came across as illustrated in the image below:

The quick and dirty answer for this is to use negative left(/start) padding on your SearchView as demonstrated below (caveats: this is the AppCompat SearchView with the searchIcon removed).

<android.support.v7.widget.SearchView
  xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
  xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
  android:layout_width="match_parent"
  android:layout_height="match_parent"
  android:paddingLeft="-16dp"
  android:paddingStart="-16dp"
  app:iconifiedByDefault="false"
  app:searchIcon="@null"
  app:queryHint="Search"
  app:theme="@style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Dark"
  />

Alternatively with the AppCompat SearchView you can set a custom layout to be inflated during initialisation with app:layout=R.layout.some_custom_layout in which you can modify the paddings/margins manually. If you are going to take this route I recommend copying the original layout (found here) and just modifying the values you need, see example below:

<android.support.v7.widget.SearchView
  xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
  xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
  android:layout_width="match_parent"
  android:layout_height="match_parent"
  android:paddingLeft="-16dp"
  android:paddingStart="-16dp"
  app:iconifiedByDefault="false"
  app:searchIcon="@null"
  app:queryHint="Search"
  app:theme="@style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Dark"
  app:layout="@layout/search_view"
  />

search_view.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!--
/*
 * Modified SearchView layout to remove 16dp left spacing from the input box.
 *
 * Original copyright notice:
 *
 * Copyright (C) 2014 The Android Open Source Project
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */

-->
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:id="@+id/search_bar"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:orientation="horizontal"
    >

  <!-- This is actually used for the badge icon *or* the badge label (or neither) -->
  <TextView
      android:id="@+id/search_badge"
      android:layout_width="wrap_content"
      android:layout_height="match_parent"
      android:layout_marginBottom="2dip"
      android:drawablePadding="0dip"
      android:gravity="center_vertical"
      android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium"
      android:textColor="?android:attr/textColorPrimary"
      android:visibility="gone"
      />

  <ImageView
      android:id="@+id/search_button"
      android:layout_width="wrap_content"
      android:layout_height="match_parent"
      android:layout_gravity="center_vertical"
      android:contentDescription="@string/abc_searchview_description_search"
      android:focusable="true"
      style="?attr/actionButtonStyle"
      />

  <LinearLayout
      android:id="@+id/search_edit_frame"
      android:layout_width="wrap_content"
      android:layout_height="match_parent"
      android:layout_weight="1"
      android:layoutDirection="locale"
      android:orientation="horizontal"
      >

    <ImageView
        android:id="@+id/search_mag_icon"
        android:layout_width="@dimen/abc_dropdownitem_icon_width"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_gravity="center_vertical"
        android:scaleType="centerInside"
        android:visibility="gone"
        style="@style/RtlOverlay.Widget.AppCompat.SearchView.MagIcon"
        />

    <!-- Inner layout contains the app icon, button(s) and EditText -->
    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/search_plate"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:layout_gravity="center_vertical"
        android:layout_weight="1"
        android:orientation="horizontal"
        >

      <view
          class="android.support.v7.widget.SearchView$SearchAutoComplete"
          android:id="@+id/search_src_text"
          android:layout_width="0dp"
          android:layout_height="36dip"
          android:layout_gravity="center_vertical"
          android:layout_weight="1"
          android:background="@null"
          android:dropDownAnchor="@id/search_edit_frame"
          android:dropDownHeight="wrap_content"
          android:dropDownHorizontalOffset="0dip"
          android:dropDownVerticalOffset="0dip"
          android:ellipsize="end"
          android:imeOptions="actionSearch"
          android:inputType="text|textAutoComplete|textNoSuggestions"
          android:singleLine="true"
          />

      <ImageView
          android:id="@+id/search_close_btn"
          android:layout_width="wrap_content"
          android:layout_height="match_parent"
          android:layout_gravity="center_vertical"
          android:background="?attr/selectableItemBackgroundBorderless"
          android:contentDescription="@string/abc_searchview_description_clear"
          android:focusable="true"
          android:paddingLeft="8dip"
          android:paddingRight="8dip"
          />

    </LinearLayout>

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/submit_area"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:orientation="horizontal"
        >

      <ImageView
          android:id="@+id/search_go_btn"
          android:layout_width="wrap_content"
          android:layout_height="match_parent"
          android:layout_gravity="center_vertical"
          android:background="?attr/selectableItemBackgroundBorderless"
          android:contentDescription="@string/abc_searchview_description_submit"
          android:focusable="true"
          android:paddingLeft="16dip"
          android:paddingRight="16dip"
          android:visibility="gone"
          />

      <ImageView
          android:id="@+id/search_voice_btn"
          android:layout_width="wrap_content"
          android:layout_height="match_parent"
          android:layout_gravity="center_vertical"
          android:background="?attr/selectableItemBackgroundBorderless"
          android:contentDescription="@string/abc_searchview_description_voice"
          android:focusable="true"
          android:paddingLeft="16dip"
          android:paddingRight="16dip"
          android:visibility="gone"
          />
    </LinearLayout>
  </LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>

I personally just ended up using the quick and dirty method mentioned first, I just wanted to include this for completeness.

Hit me up if I have missed anything.

score 13 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 08 '17 at 09:16

13

android:paddingStart="-16dp"

That's enough for post lollipop devices.

answered Sep 08 '17 at 09:16

Anand Kumar

1,439
1
15
22

1

This works for me when searchview is in the Toolbar and has a padding of 8dp. So I use `android:paddingStart="-8dp"` – Francis Bacon Oct 25 '17 at 06:33
1

It should be `margin` not `padding` in my case `android:layout_marginStart="-16dp"` – Shailendra Madda Nov 24 '21 at 10:49

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 16 '16 at 14:42

Simply call this with your SearchView as input and it will clear out any and all insets.

private static void trimChildMargins(@NonNull ViewGroup vg) {
    final int childCount = vg.getChildCount();
    for (int i = 0; i < childCount; i++) {
        final View child = vg.getChildAt(i);

        if (child instanceof ViewGroup) {
            trimChildMargins((ViewGroup) child);
        }

        final ViewGroup.LayoutParams lp = child.getLayoutParams();
        if (lp instanceof ViewGroup.MarginLayoutParams) {
            ((ViewGroup.MarginLayoutParams) lp).leftMargin = 0;
        }
        child.setBackground(null);
        child.setPadding(0, 0, 0, 0);
    }
}

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 06 '17 at 19:36

Programatically, you need to set the padding of the EditText in the SearchView.

EditText searchEditText = (EditText) searchView.findViewById(android.support.v7.appcompat.R.id.search_src_text);
searchEditText.setPadding(0, 2, 0, 2);

Note: set padding for top, bottom, and right to what value you please, but 0 for leftPadding should force everything in the edit text to the left of the SearchView

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered May 24 '19 at 23:03

Try this:

<android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar
    android:id="@+id/toolbar"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="?attr/actionBarSize"
    app:contentInsetEnd="0dp"
    app:contentInsetLeft="0dp"
    app:contentInsetRight="0dp"
    app:contentInsetStart="0dp">

    <SearchView
        android:id="@+id/search_view"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:iconifiedByDefault="false"
        android:queryHint="Search"
       />

</android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar>

Jamil Hasnine Tamim · Answer 6 · 2020-09-21T06:57:46.073

1

If added your SearchView from code then just add this code in kotlin:

var searchView = searchItem.actionView as SearchView
val searchEditFrame: LinearLayout =
searchView!!.findViewById<View>(R.id.search_edit_frame) as LinearLayout
val layoutParams: LinearLayout.LayoutParams =
searchEditFrame.layoutParams as LinearLayout.LayoutParams
layoutParams.leftMargin = -10

Before:

After:

edited Sep 21 '20 at 06:57

answered Sep 21 '20 at 06:50

Jamil Hasnine Tamim

4,389
27
43

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Feb 29 '16 at 10:26

0

Hey set padding for SearchView dynamically in onCreate and try SearchView sv = findViewById(R.id.searchView1); sv.setPadding(0,2,0,0);

answered Feb 29 '16 at 10:26

Naveen Shriyan

1,266
1
9
15

Hey I tried setting padding programmatically, but its not working. I guess there is some issue with the searchview itself. I guess EditText would have worked in this case. – coolcoder Feb 29 '16 at 10:58

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Feb 29 '16 at 11:56

Try Using this code once

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto" android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    app:layout_behavior="@string/appbar_scrolling_view_behavior"
    tools:showIn="@layout/activity_main" tools:context=".MainActivity">


    <SearchView
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:id="@+id/searchView"
        android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
        android:layout_alignParentStart="true"
      />

    <TextView android:text="Hello World!" android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:id="@+id/textView"
        android:layout_below="@id/searchView"/>

</RelativeLayout>

Is this intended to be part of your prior answer? Or an entirely new answer? Don't post multiple answers unless they offer different solutions. — elixenide, Feb 29 '16 at 23:10

How to remove space on the left side of Android searchview (which is not part of actionbar)?

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