How to always show scrollbar

Question

The scrollbar in my scrollview is only visible when I start scrolling. How can I always show it?

score 627 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 25 '13 at 20:42

627

As of now the best way is to use android:fadeScrollbars="false" in xml which is equivalent to ScrollView.setScrollbarFadingEnabled(false); in java code.

edited Apr 25 '13 at 20:42

TronicZomB

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answered Oct 27 '11 at 02:43

Rejinderi

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for ListView didn't work, but this worked: `view.setScrollBarFadeDuration(0);` – user924 Dec 09 '17 at 17:24
3

so the right and accepted answer should be @Tanmay Mandal answer (`setScrollBarFadeDuration(0)`), because `setScrollbarFadingEnabled(false)` doesn't work everywhere – user924 Dec 09 '17 at 17:26
or it stops works for example because of like described here https://stackoverflow.com/a/6673848/7767664 (onStop, onStart again and faield), so `setScrollBarFadeDuration(0);` is more reliable – user924 Dec 09 '17 at 17:29
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One thing to note is the scrollbar will not show when the view is not scrollable ✓ – James Jul 28 '22 at 19:15
I needed this on my recyclerview to both have the bar and always see it `android:scrollbars="vertical" android:fadeScrollbars="false"` – brando f Nov 22 '22 at 18:01

score 61 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 18 '11 at 12:15

61

Setting the android:scrollbarFadeDuration="0" will do the trick.

answered Apr 18 '11 at 12:15

Tanmay Mandal

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available in sdk 16 as a java method – larham1 Jun 12 '13 at 22:20

score 56 · Answer 3 · edited May 20 '22 at 11:38

56

There are 4 ways:

From Java code: ScrollView.setScrollbarFadingEnabled(false);
From XML code: android:fadeScrollbars="false"
From Java code: myView.setScrollBarFadeDuration(0)
From XML code: android:scrollbarFadeDuration="0"

Simple as that!

edited May 20 '22 at 11:38

Top-Master

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answered Nov 25 '12 at 20:23

Tudor Luca

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score 23 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 30 '17 at 09:14

23

Don't forget to add android:scrollbars="vertical" along with android:fadeScrollbars="false" or it won't show at all in some cases.

answered Jan 30 '17 at 09:14

Sir Codesalot

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score 23 · Answer 5 · edited Dec 26 '17 at 11:44

Style your scroll bar Visibility, Color and Thickness like this:

<ScrollView
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:background="@color/recycler_bg"

        <!--Show Scroll Bar-->
        android:fadeScrollbars="false"
        android:scrollbarAlwaysDrawVerticalTrack="true"
        android:scrollbarFadeDuration="50000"

        <!--Scroll Bar thickness-->
        android:scrollbarSize="4dp"

        <!--Scroll Bar Color-->
        android:scrollbarThumbVertical="@color/colorSecondaryText"/>

Hope it help save some time.

score 13 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 22 '11 at 20:19

13

Try this as the above suggestions didn't work for me when I wanted to do this for a TextView:

TextView.setScrollbarFadingEnabled(false);

Good Luck.

answered Apr 22 '11 at 20:19

Camille Sévigny

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@user924 sure, but that answer was posted 10 days after my comment – sXe Dec 15 '17 at 09:49

score 11 · Answer 7 · edited Jan 14 '20 at 18:15

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Simple and easy. Add this attribute to the ScrollBar:

android:fadeScrollbars="false"

Or you can do this in java:

scrollView.setScrollbarFadingEnabled(false);

Or in kotlin:

scrollView.isScrollbarFadingEnabled = false

edited Jan 14 '20 at 18:15

Boken

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answered Mar 23 '19 at 12:06

Gourav

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score 10 · Answer 8 · answered Apr 18 '11 at 12:17

10

Try android:scrollbarAlwaysDrawVerticalTrack="true" for vertical. and Try android:scrollbarAlwaysDrawHorizontalTrack="true" for horizontal

answered Apr 18 '11 at 12:17

Saurabh Pareek

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score 9 · Answer 9 · answered Jul 02 '11 at 17:11

9

Since neither of the above worked for me, here's what did: android:scrollbarDefaultDelayBeforeFade="500000"

answered Jul 02 '11 at 17:11

Emir Kuljanin

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score 9 · Answer 10 · answered Jul 13 '11 at 03:48

9

android:scrollbarFadeDuration="0" sometimes does not work after I exit from the apps and start again. So I add gallery.setScrollbarFadingEnabled(false); to the activity and it works!

answered Jul 13 '11 at 03:48

icegee

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sealskej · Answer 11 · 2011-05-18T02:02:21.550

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These two together worked for me:

android:scrollbarFadeDuration="0"
android:scrollbarAlwaysDrawVerticalTrack="true"

edited May 18 '11 at 02:02

answered May 18 '11 at 01:40

sealskej

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Boris Karloff · Answer 12 · 2019-08-04T21:39:51.410

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I had the same problem. The bar had the same background color. Try:

android:scrollbarThumbVertical="@android:color/black"

edited Aug 04 '19 at 21:39

answered Nov 25 '18 at 22:32

Boris Karloff

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score 4 · Answer 13 · answered Mar 26 '14 at 23:10

4

setVertical* helped to make vertical scrollbar always visible programmatically

scrollView.setScrollbarFadingEnabled(false);
scrollView.setVerticalScrollBarEnabled(true);
scrollView.setVerticalFadingEdgeEnabled(false);

answered Mar 26 '14 at 23:10

Dmitry Bryliuk

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score 4 · Answer 14 · edited Aug 03 '19 at 16:01

4

Setting this will do the trick. Change the @drwable for own style.

android:scrollbars="vertical"
            android:scrollbarAlwaysDrawVerticalTrack="true"
            android:fadeScrollbars="false"
            android:scrollbarThumbVertical="@drawable/scroll"`

edited Aug 03 '19 at 16:01

Gourav

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answered Nov 17 '18 at 10:58

Muthu Krishnan

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score -1 · Answer 15 · answered Apr 28 '22 at 03:57

-1

use awakenScrollBars() awake scrollbar draw.

answered Apr 28 '22 at 03:57

李亮亮

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How to always show scrollbar

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