Right align text in android TextView

Question

I have a TextView in my application. I want to align the text in it to the right. I tried adding:

android:gravity="right"

But this doesn't work for me.

What might I be doing wrong?

score 200 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 27 '16 at 17:05

200

I think that you are doing this: android:layout_width = "wrap_content"
If this is the case, do this: android:layout_width = "match_parent"

edited Jan 27 '16 at 17:05

Finn Gaida

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answered Jan 23 '12 at 09:04

a fair player

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@Bishan fill will fill the remainder of the space, match will set it equal to the width of the parent – Troy Cosentino Dec 20 '12 at 07:45
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Actually, fill_parent and match_parent are the same thing. The name was changed to match_parent because apparently fill_parent was confusing people. – Edward Falk Jul 08 '13 at 21:27

score 163 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 28 '12 at 23:54

In general, android:gravity="right" is different from android:layout_gravity="right".

The first one affects the position of the text itself within the View, so if you want it to be right-aligned, then layout_width= should be either "fill_parent" or "match_parent".

The second one affects the View's position inside its parent, in other words - aligning the object itself (edit box or text view) inside the parent view.

Paulo Roberto Rosa · Answer 3 · 2014-01-21T18:03:18.180

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The better solution is the one that is the most simple, and the one that does less modification in your code behaviour.

What if you can solve this problem only with 2 Properties on your TextView?

Instead of needing to change your LinearLayout Properties that maybe can alter the behaviour of LinearLayout childs?

Using this way, you do not need to change LinearLayout properties and behaviour, you only need to add the two following properties to your target TextView:

android:gravity="right"
android:textAlignment="gravity"

What would be better to change only your target to solve your solution instead of having a chance to cause another problem in the future, modifying your target father? think about it :)

edited Jan 21 '14 at 18:03

answered Nov 20 '13 at 17:30

Paulo Roberto Rosa

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I get an error saying no resource identifier found for resource 'textAlignment' in package android. – anu Apr 27 '14 at 17:18
You have sure that you are acessing a `TextView` properties? - You can check the property from the reference here: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/View.html#attr_android:textAlignment – Paulo Roberto Rosa Apr 28 '14 at 11:05
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textAlignment was added in API level 17 (Android 4.2). Your emulator/device will need to be running 4.2+ for this to work. – thanhtd Jun 02 '14 at 09:33
I have tried to use this textAlignment property in Android 4.1.2 and got the error "No resource identifier found for attribute 'textAlignment'". I found the answer for this error here http://stackoverflow.com/a/20176191/723507. How could you use it in 4.0.3? – thanhtd Jun 03 '14 at 08:27

score 20 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 23 '12 at 09:13

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android:layout_gravity is used to align the text view with respect to the parent layout. android:gravity is used to align the text inside the text view.

Are you sure you are trying to align the text inside the text view to the right or do you want to move the text view itself to the right with respect to the parent layout or are you trying to acheive both

answered Jan 23 '12 at 09:13

rogerstone

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i'm trying to align the text inside the text view to the right – Bishan Jan 23 '12 at 09:16

score 16 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 16 '17 at 09:13

16

In case somebody still needs

android:gravity="end"

answered Sep 16 '17 at 09:13

npk

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what's that for? – gumuruh May 28 '20 at 17:42
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In LTR, this aligns the text to right and in RTL, to the left – npk Jun 01 '20 at 13:09

score 14 · Answer 6 · edited Jun 22 '17 at 14:08

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The following code snippet:

android:textAlignment="textEnd"
android:layout_gravity="end"

works great for me

edited Jun 22 '17 at 14:08

Daan

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answered Jun 22 '17 at 13:19

Fey Agape

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Lalit Poptani · Answer 7 · 2014-07-21T08:30:02.367

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Make sure that you are not using android:layout_width="wrap_content" if so then it won't be able to set the gravity because you are not having enough space for the text to align. Instead use android:layout_width="fill_parent"

edited Jul 21 '14 at 08:30

answered Jan 23 '12 at 09:03

Lalit Poptani

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score 7 · Answer 8 · edited Dec 28 '16 at 03:12

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android:gravity="right"

It is basically used in Linear Layout so you have to set your width of TextView or either EditText as

android:layout_width = "match_parent"

and

When you are working in Relative Layout, use

android:layout_alignParentRight="true"

edited Dec 28 '16 at 03:12

Bishan

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answered Dec 27 '16 at 09:28

Kushal Ramola

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score 5 · Answer 9 · edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

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If it is in RelativeLayout you can use android:layout_toRightOf="@id/<id_of_desired_item>"

Or

If you want to align to the right corner of the device the place android:layout_alignParentRight="true"

edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

Community

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answered May 13 '13 at 12:33

user2342517

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score 5 · Answer 10 · edited Aug 19 '13 at 02:39

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Make the (LinearLayout) android:layout_width="match_parent" and the TextView's android:layout_gravity="right"

edited Aug 19 '13 at 02:39

Bishan

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answered Aug 18 '13 at 18:36

Augustus Francis

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score 4 · Answer 11 · answered Feb 26 '16 at 01:32

Below works for me:

<TextView
    android:id="@+id/tv_username"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:text="Sarah" />

<TextView
    android:id="@+id/tv_distance"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_alignBottom="@+id/tv_username"
    android:layout_alignParentEnd="true"
    android:layout_toEndOf="@+id/tv_username"
    android:text="San Marco"
    android:textAlignment="viewEnd" />

Please note the android:layout_alignParentEnd and android:textAlignment settings of the second TextView.

score 4 · Answer 12 · answered May 02 '16 at 11:58

Let me explain gravity concept using WEB because a lot of developer are aware of it.

android_layout_gravity behaves float:left|right|top|bottom

Whereas android_gravity work as text_align:centre|left|right

In Android float is android_layout_gravity and text_align: is android_gravity.

And android_layout_gravity applies relative to parent. where as android_gravity applies to its child or inner content.

Note android_gravity only works when its View is match_parent(when it have space to center).

score 2 · Answer 13 · answered Jun 01 '17 at 16:04

2

You can use:

    android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
    android:layout_centerVertical="true"

answered Jun 01 '17 at 16:04

Pablo

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score 2 · Answer 14 · answered Jun 09 '17 at 08:33

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this should serve the purpose

android:textAlignment="textStart"

answered Jun 09 '17 at 08:33

masoud Cheragee

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score 2 · Answer 15 · answered Feb 25 '18 at 06:17

In my case, I was using Relative Layout for a emptyString

After struggling on this for an hour. Only this worked for me:

android:layout_toRightOf="@id/welcome"
android:layout_toEndOf="@id/welcome"
android:layout_alignBaseline="@id/welcome"

layout_toRightOf or layout_toEndOf both works, but to support it better, I used both.

To make it more clear:

This was what I was trying to do:

And this was the emulator's output

Layout:

<TextView
    android:id="@+id/welcome"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_marginStart="16dp"
    android:layout_marginTop="16dp"
    android:text="Welcome "
    android:textSize="16sp" />
<TextView
    android:id="@+id/username"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_alignBaseline="@id/welcome"
    android:layout_toRightOf="@id/welcome"
    android:text="@string/emptyString"
    android:textSize="16sp" />

Notice that:

android:layout_width="wrap_content" works
Gravity is not used

score 1 · Answer 16 · answered Sep 26 '16 at 01:29

1

I also faced the same problem and figured the problem was happening as the layout_width of the TextView was having wrap_content. You need to have layout_width as match_parent and the android:gravity = "gravity"

answered Sep 26 '16 at 01:29

Arup Saha

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score 1 · Answer 17 · answered Jul 31 '17 at 12:11

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
     android:layout_width="fill_parent"
     android:layout_height="fill_parent">

  <TextView
    android:id="@+id/tct_postpone_hour"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="50dp"
    android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
    android:layout_centerVertical="true"
    android:layout_gravity="center"
    android:gravity="center_vertical|center_horizontal"
    android:text="1"
    android:textSize="24dp" />
</RelativeLayout>

makes number one align in center both horizontal and vertical.

score 0 · Answer 18 · edited May 07 '15 at 13:13

0

try to add android:gravity="center" into TextView

edited May 07 '15 at 13:13

ahmed hamdy

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answered Aug 05 '14 at 11:15

TheGreenGoblen

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score 0 · Answer 19 · answered May 08 '19 at 09:26

I have used the attribute "layout_alignRight" in my case, in text its :

android:layout_alignRight="@+id/myComponentId"

If you want to add some right margin, just set the attribute "Layout_Margin Right" to "20dp" for exemple, in text its :

android:layout_marginRight="20dp"

Right align text in android TextView

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