Clyde Eisenbeis

Clyde Eisenbeis

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What is a simple way to add Scrollbars to a ListBox?

Jan 14 2025 4:09 PM

C# WPF

xaml:

<ListBox x:Name="gLBxCharacters"
  Margin="5,0,5,0"
  ScrollViewer.VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Visible"
  />
C#

This displays a scrollbar.  But it does not scroll the contents of the ListBox.

What is a simple way to add Scrollbars to a ListBox?


Answers (3)

1
Tuhin Paul

Tuhin Paul

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Jan 14 2025 5:44 PM

To check that the scrollbar in your ListBox scrolls its contents, you need to make sure the ListBox has a constrained height or is inside a container with limited size

<Window x:Class="ScrollExample.MainWindow"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        Title="ListBox Scroll Example" Height="300" Width="400">
    <Grid>
        <ListBox x:Name="gLBxCharacters"
                 Margin="10"
                 ScrollViewer.VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto">
            <ListBox.Items>
                <!-- Example content -->
                <ListBoxItem>Item 1</ListBoxItem>
                <ListBoxItem>Item 2</ListBoxItem>
                <ListBoxItem>Item 3</ListBoxItem>
                <ListBoxItem>Item 4</ListBoxItem>
                <ListBoxItem>Item 5</ListBoxItem>
                <ListBoxItem>Item 6</ListBoxItem>
                <ListBoxItem>Item 7</ListBoxItem>
                <ListBoxItem>Item 8</ListBoxItem>
                <ListBoxItem>Item 9</ListBoxItem>
                <ListBoxItem>Item 10</ListBoxItem>
                <ListBoxItem>Item 11</ListBoxItem>
                <ListBoxItem>Item 12</ListBoxItem>
                <ListBoxItem>Item 13</ListBoxItem>
            </ListBox.Items>
        </ListBox>
    </Grid>
</Window>

The ListBox needs to have a constrained height or width. In the example, the Grid container implicitly limits the size of the ListBox based on the Window size. 

  • ScrollViewer.VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto" ensures the vertical scrollbar appears when needed.
  • You can use ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Auto" for a horizontal scrollbar, if required.

 

0
Amit Kumar

Amit Kumar

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Jan 15 2025 8:28 AM

I would suggest using a ScrollViewer instead of relying on VerticalScrollBarVisibility.

See this example...

<ScrollViewer VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto" HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Auto"> <ListBox> <!-- ListBox Items --> <TextBlock Text="Item 1" /> <TextBlock Text="Item 2" /> <!-- Add more items --> </ListBox> </ScrollViewer>

 

0
Sangeetha S

Sangeetha S

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Jan 15 2025 4:21 AM

In XAML, the ListBox control automatically provides scrollbars when its content exceeds the available space. However, if you want to ensure that the vertical scrollbar is always visible, you can set the ScrollViewer.VerticalScrollBarVisibility property to "Visible," as you've already done in your example.

Here's a simple way to add scrollbars to a ListBox:

<ListBox x:Name="gLBxCharacters"
         Margin=\"5,0,5,0\"
         ScrollViewer.VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto"
         ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Auto"></ListBox>

Setting VerticalScrollBarVisibility to "Auto" will show the scrollbar only when needed, while "Visible" will always show it. You can also add items to the ListBox to see the scrollbars in action.