WPF Style Selected Items of ListBox Using an ItemsPanelTemplate

Question

How can I style the selected items in this listbox?

<ListBox x:Name="AssetTypeListBox" SelectionMode="Multiple">
    <ListBox.ItemsPanel >
        <ItemsPanelTemplate >
             <UniformGrid Columns="6"/>
        </ItemsPanelTemplate>
    </ListBox.ItemsPanel> 
</ListBox>

I have tried

<SolidColorBrush x:Key="{x:Static SystemColors.HighlightBrushKey}" Color="#F15025"/>

and

<SolidColorBrush x:Key="{x:Static SystemColors.InactiveSelectionHighlightBrushKey}" Color="#F15025"/>

But they don't seem to affect the selected items as I would expect. Thanks.

olitee · Accepted Answer · 2019-02-06T23:37:05.743

If you just want to change the colour of the selection, then the easiest way is to set the solidcolorbrush as a resource on your Listbox:

<ListBox x:Name="AssetTypeListBox" SelectionMode="Multiple">
    <ListBox.Resources>
         <SolidColorBrush x:Key="{x:Static SystemColors.HighlightBrushKey}" Color="#F15025"/>
         <SolidColorBrush x:Key="{x:Static SystemColors.InactiveSelectionHighlightBrushKey}" Color="#F15025"/>
    </ListBox.Resources>
    <ListBox.ItemsPanel >
        <ItemsPanelTemplate >
             <UniformGrid Columns="6"/>
        </ItemsPanelTemplate>
    </ListBox.ItemsPanel> 
</ListBox>

If you're wanting to customise the style of the selection of an item in the listbox, such as changing the selection colour or completely restyling the look of a selected item, you need to look at the ItemContainerStyle property.

The ItemsPanelTemplate doesn't affect this - it simply sets the ItemsControl type that should layout and present the items - such as a StackPanel or UniformGrid.

The basic hierarchy (with a pinch of salt) of a ListBox is:

ListBox
- ItemsPanelTemplate (StackPanel by default)
  - ItemsContainerStyle (Selection highlighting is here)
    - ItemTemplate (You define the content of your list item here)

The differences between ItemTemplates and ItemsContainerStyle are covered here: What's the difference between ItemTemplate and ItemContainerStyle in a WPF ListBox?

WPF Style Selected Items of ListBox Using an ItemsPanelTemplate

1 Answers1