String Resource new line /n not possible?

Question

It doesn't seem like it's possible to add a new line /n to an XML resource string. Is there another way of doing this?

@anandtripathi, I rolled back your edit because it made the answers meaningless. The OP had wrongly use \n instead of /n, which is the essence of the question. We should not correct OP's code, but only the question body, for the obvious raisons — Vega, Jun 25 '20 at 16:07

score 436 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 25 '20 at 16:19

436

use a blackslash not a forwardslash. \n

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    <string name="title">Hello\nWorld!</string>
</resources>

Also, if you plan on using the string as HTML, you can use   for a line break( )

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    <string name="title">Hello&lt;br /&gt;World!</string>
</resources>

edited Jun 25 '20 at 16:19

desertnaut

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answered Mar 28 '11 at 14:16

james

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In strings.xml only HTML format it accepts, so is the appropriate solution provided – akash89 Oct 06 '15 at 07:21
I want to mention something for people like me reaching this page because of Android Studio. In AS when you extract a string using the IDE's tool, it automatically strips newline characters. You can just manually add them back in and it'll work fine. Not sure why it does this. – Jans Rautenbach Aug 01 '18 at 19:29
1

\n doest work for me , neither change the line neither string has /n . Do you know why ? neither hit enter works , that said in other answers – Thelouras Nov 19 '18 at 17:59
It seems that at least in the Translations Editor you need to use forward slash, otherwise it it will simply interpret it as a literal \n. Talk about consistent design.... – Metalfreak Aug 18 '20 at 07:47
7

just a more recent update on this: neither `\n` or `/n` work in strings.xml files. neither does ` `. however just using `
` works perfectly for this! I tested them just to make sure, and `
` is the only one that worked as expected! – schnondle May 06 '21 at 03:54
`\n` works at run time but not in the layout inspector. – MehranB Nov 15 '21 at 09:49

score 52 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

52

I know this is pretty old question but it topped the list when I searched. So I wanted to update with another method.

In the strings.xml file you can do the \n or you can simply press enter:

<string name="Your string name" > This is your string.

   This is the second line of your string.\n\n Third line of your string.</string>

This will result in the following on your TextView:

This is your string.

This is the second line of your string.

Third line of your string.

This is because there were two returns between the beginning declaration of the string and the new line. I also added the \n to it for clarity, as either can be used. I like to use the carriage returns in the xml to be able to see a list or whatever multiline string I have. My two cents.

edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

Community

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answered Jun 25 '13 at 03:30

Dimesio

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Oh, that's interesting. thanks for sharing. Also, I feel like an idiot for asking this question, but it looks like it has helped a lot of people. LOL!! – Andi Jay Dec 12 '13 at 17:29
7

Two successive linebreaks are treated by (at least current versions of) Android as just a single space. https://github.com/paour/StringResourceTest – Pierre-Luc Paour Mar 31 '17 at 12:29

Mahmoud Mabrok · Answer 3 · 2020-11-18T10:58:25.297

45

After I tried next solution

add \n
add \n without spaces after it
use "" and press Enter inside text
text with press Enter
use lines=2

What solves me is br tag

<string name="successfullyfeatured">successfully<br/> You are now a member</string>

Update

the most reliable solution is to use Translation editor and edit text and it will handle new lines for you

edited Nov 18 '20 at 10:58

answered Nov 08 '20 at 08:00

Mahmoud Mabrok

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Just behaves differently on different platforms for me. – Fatih Mar 27 '21 at 16:53
Why `
` instead of `/n`? – IgorGanapolsky Oct 05 '22 at 19:47
i tried new line character but did not work then what worked with me was `br` tag @IgorGanapolsky – Mahmoud Mabrok Mar 26 '23 at 11:00

score 35 · Answer 4 · edited Jun 25 '20 at 16:05

35

This is an old question, but I found that when you create a string like this:

<string name="newline_test">My
New line test</string>

The output in your app will be like this (no newline)

My New line test

When you put the string in quotation marks

<string name="newline_test">"My
New line test"</string>

the newline will appear:

My 
New line test

edited Jun 25 '20 at 16:05

Dharman

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answered Aug 25 '17 at 10:14

Peter

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Works for me but just in case, remember when you're defining resources like above, you should avoid using `Html.fromHtml`. Thanks – Ahmad Reza Enshaee Feb 06 '18 at 21:51
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Wrapping the multiline string in quote marks worked perfectly. Much better than putting `\n` everywhere (which can quickly become unreadable and confusing). Needless to say, but just in case: if you want to have a literal quote mark in your text, you must escape it: `\"` – Nolonar May 02 '20 at 10:12
note that the lines in the resource should not be indented, else the output will display with leading spaces – pretorh Sep 01 '23 at 06:07

score 9 · Answer 5 · edited Jan 29 '21 at 16:19

9

When using the translations editor in Android Studio just click the icon to the right (or use Shift-Enter on Windows, Alt/Option-Enter on MacOS) and then add line breaks using return.

This will insert \n correctly in the localized strings.xml.

edited Jan 29 '21 at 16:19

Adrian Mole

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answered Jan 21 '18 at 12:32

Torkel Börjeson

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Thanks a lot for this answer. – Simple Oct 13 '18 at 17:10
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There is no icon to the right and Shift-Enter jumps to the next text above, at least on ubuntu. – Tibor Nagy Dec 10 '18 at 15:49
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Updated this with info on where to find the button. – The Fluffy T Rex Sep 28 '20 at 11:17
In Android Studio Translation editor, one has to select the text item, then come down to the bottom of the Translation editor window, where Key, Default value, Translation are displayed, then click on the value (used to edit the text / content), press the "Shift + Enter" here, this opens a text editing window. Here you can create paragraphs as it has to appear and save it. This will be used and displayed as such as paragraphs. – Simmam Dec 07 '20 at 08:15

score 7 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 06 '19 at 02:05

7

In the latest version of Android studio, "\n" is going to be printed like it was meant to be there unless the whole string it's in apostrophes

For Example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    <string name="title">"Hello\nWorld!"</string>
</resources>

answered Apr 06 '19 at 02:05

Sventra

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How can I make two break lines? – jvargas Jun 10 '20 at 15:36

score 5 · Answer 7 · answered Jun 08 '21 at 05:44

I have tried two options, both are efficient and easy.

I used   HTML tag

<string name="name_detail">
        Hey user. <br/>
        Enjoy a new shopping deal.!!
</string>

Add an encoding line at the top of strings.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

and use "\n" to break line Example

<string name="name_detail">
        Hey user.\n
        Enjoy a new shopping deal.!!
</string>

score 4 · Answer 8 · edited Jul 19 '17 at 09:31

4

If you put "\n" in a string in the xml file, it's taken as "\\n"

So , I did :

text = text.Replace("\\\n", "\n");   ( text is taken from resX file)

And then I get a line jump on the screen

edited Jul 19 '17 at 09:31

duggu

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answered Apr 15 '16 at 09:37

flamandier

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Only happens when you add the string with the wizard. If you edit the xml it works – Daniel Argüelles Jul 20 '16 at 18:57
I made this mistake too. Thanks for your advice. But I just corrected all appearances of \n myself. – Kanat Dec 06 '16 at 11:37
Not a good solution. You should get the text from the resources and use it directly. What if you have to handle more special characters? You gonna write more code for them too? What if you have edge cases? – dephinera Jul 04 '17 at 09:43

score 3 · Answer 9 · answered Jun 25 '20 at 14:59

3

don't put space after \n, otherwise, it won't work. I don't know the reason, but this trick worked for me pretty well.

answered Jun 25 '20 at 14:59

SaloniGupts

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score 3 · Answer 10 · answered Dec 06 '21 at 17:44

3

You can use this format

<string name="test">
"This is
a new line"
</string>

answered Dec 06 '21 at 17:44

Andreas Stokidis

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This is the most simple solution. I was working with "\n" for new line in String resources. Finally, using this "quoted data" I done my job easily. – Rahat Shah Sep 26 '22 at 11:56

score 2 · Answer 11 · edited Jun 07 '20 at 21:35

2

I just faced this issue. didn't work on TextView with constraint parameters. Adding android:lines="2" seems to fix this.

edited Jun 07 '20 at 21:35

Muhammad Dyas Yaskur

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answered Jun 07 '20 at 19:22

Hill Karimov

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ilidiocn · Answer 12 · 2021-08-04T09:26:15.523

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I have tried 1-Top word \n Bottom word 2-Top word ENTER Bottom word

Didn't work And finally   worked for me in android studio

In fact the correct way to use it is \n although it is possible to see it done after Build the application. The
only has an effect on the design and not on the application

<string name="available_balance">Available\nBalance</string> //Look good on the app and Available\nBalance in android studio
<string name="available_balance">Available<br/>Balance</string> //Look good in android studio and Available Balance on the App

edited Aug 04 '21 at 09:26

answered Aug 04 '21 at 07:51

ilidiocn

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Please share some code sample of how you tried and how you solved it. – Marcel Hofgesang Aug 04 '21 at 08:17
In fact the correct way to use it is \n although it is possible to see it done after Build the application. The
only has an effect on the design and not on the application Available\nBalance – ilidiocn Aug 04 '21 at 09:18

score 2 · Answer 13 · answered Sep 27 '21 at 19:45

2

finally, I found the solution. the   is working on design only and it's not working in running app.
the \n is working on running app only and not working on design
so the solution is to use both if you want to have both results.
something like this

\n<br/>

Example:

Hello \n<br/>World.

Result in design mode:
Hello\n
World.

Result in running app:
Hello
World.

answered Sep 27 '21 at 19:45

Morteza

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You say you "finally" found the solution, but a solution was provided over a decade ago, and has been widely validated by the community. What does your solution add that isn't already addressed in the accepted answer—or the other seventeen answers, for that matter? – Jeremy Caney Sep 28 '21 at 00:02

score 1 · Answer 14 · answered Jul 26 '17 at 10:54

1

Very simple you have to just put
\n where ever you want to break line in your string resource.

For example

String s = my string resource have \n line break here;

answered Jul 26 '17 at 10:54

Ali Nawaz

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How can I make two break lines? – jvargas Jun 10 '20 at 15:36
@jvargas \n\n for two. \n\n\n for three. and so on... – apmartin1991 Feb 11 '21 at 15:52

score 1 · Answer 15 · answered Aug 20 '19 at 11:53

I want to expand on this answer. What they meant is this icon:

It opens a "real editor window" instead of the limited-feature text box in the big overview. In that editor window, special chars, linebreaks etc. are allowed and converted to the correct xml "code" when saved

score 1 · Answer 16 · answered Feb 04 '21 at 21:30

Just use "\n" in your strings.xml file as below

<string name="relaxing_sounds">RELAXING\nSOUNDS</string>

Even if it doesn't looks 2 lines on layout actually it is 2 lines. Firstly you can check it on Translation Editor

Click the down button and you will see this image

Moreover if you run the app you will see that it is written in two lines.

Prajwal Waingankar · Answer 17 · 2021-06-04T09:55:31.470

1

\n tag worked in the strings.xml file

Eg:

 <string name="hello">Hello World &amp;\nWelcome</string>

Output:

Hello World &
Welcome

Note:

Make sure that you dont add space before and after of \n"
Even if it doesnt looks on new line in the preview window of UI when you run the app it will be displayed in the next line.

edited Jun 04 '21 at 09:55

answered Jun 04 '21 at 09:40

Prajwal Waingankar

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score 1 · Answer 18 · answered Jul 19 '21 at 23:32

1

To see in the design tab the line breaks and in the device i use:

<br/><br/>\n\n

(to 2 break lines)

answered Jul 19 '21 at 23:32

Alejandro Ibague

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score 0 · Answer 19 · answered Feb 08 '21 at 18:27

Although the actual problem was with the forward slash still for those using backslash but still saw \n in their layout.

Well i was also puzzled at first by why \n is not working in the layout but it seems that when you actually see that layout in an actual device it creates a line break so no need to worry what it shows on layout display screen your line breaks would be working perfectly fine on devices.

score 0 · Answer 20 · answered Dec 02 '21 at 15:13

Late answer but i think might help someone.

You will some times see \n in the textview in android studio's layout preview. (But it lies then). Please refresh layout.
Or deploy your app to a real Android Device to see the \n actually working in android string resource.

score -1 · Answer 21 · answered Mar 15 '21 at 10:59

-1

Have you tried turning it off and on again ?! This is a very old question but no other answer seem to suggest this.
It could be that the layout preview on android studio is not properly displaying the textView. So you could try exiting android studio and launching it again.
I guess this can happen if android studio was open while the computer was in sleep/hibernate etc.
Anyway, worth a shot.

answered Mar 15 '21 at 10:59

ijk

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My layout preview really did display 'SPEED\nDEPTH" on a button until after a complete rebuild. After that my buttons had the correct two line caption. – BryanT May 01 '21 at 20:54

String Resource new line /n not possible?

21 Answers21

Update

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