Configure the .NET MAUI ComboBox

Updated on Jun 29, 2026

Use this article to configure the most common .NET MAUI ComboBox behaviors, including placeholder text, text input, spell checking, the clear button, drop-down behavior, keyboard type, and theme-aware placeholder color.

What Can You Configure in the ComboBox

Use the following areas depending on the behavior you want to change:

Area	Main Properties	Use It When
Placeholder	Placeholder, PlaceholderColor	You want to guide the user before a value is selected or entered.
Text input	Text, IsSpellCheckEnabled, Keyboard	You want to control what the user types and how the input behaves.
Clear action	IsClearButtonVisible	You want to show or hide the clear button.
Drop-down behavior	DropDownWidth, DropDownHeight, DropDownMaxHeight, DropDownVerticalOffset, IsDropDownOpen, IsDropdownClosedOnSelection, OpenOnFocus	You want to control how the drop-down opens, closes, and appears.

Placeholder

Use the placeholder properties when you want to guide the user before input or selection:

• Placeholder (string)—Sets the guidance text shown when the input is empty or when the selected item or items are cleared.
• PlaceholderColor (Color)—Defines the color of the placeholder text.

The following example sets the Placeholder property:

XAML

<telerik:RadComboBox Placeholder="Select City!" 
                     ItemsSource="{Binding Items}"
                     DisplayMemberPath="Name"
                     AutomationId="placeholderCombo"/>

The following image shows the result:

The following example sets the PlaceholderColor property:

XAML

<telerik:RadComboBox Placeholder="Select City!"
                     PlaceholderColor="#8660C5"
                     ItemsSource="{Binding Items}"
                     DisplayMemberPath="Name"
                     AutomationId="placeholderColorCombo"/>

The following image shows the result:

Text

Use the Text property of type string when you want to set or read the visible text of the control. This text appears when:

• The ComboBox is editable.
• The ComboBox is non-editable and the selection mode is single.

Spell Checking

Use IsSpellCheckEnabled (bool) to control whether spell checking is enabled in the ComboBox input. The default value is False. When spell checking is enabled, misspellings are indicated in the input field.

The following example applies IsSpellCheckEnabled:

XAML

<telerik:RadComboBox IsEditable="True"
                     IsSpellCheckEnabled="True"
                     ItemsSource="{Binding Items}"
                     DisplayMemberPath="Name"
                     AutomationId="spellCheckCombo"/>

Clear Button Visibility

Use IsClearButtonVisible (bool) to show or hide the clear X button. The default value is True.

The following example sets IsClearButtonVisible:

XAML

<telerik:RadComboBox IsClearButtonVisible="False" 
                     ItemsSource="{Binding Items}"
                     DisplayMemberPath="Population"
                     IsEditable="True"
                     SearchTextPath="Population"
                     Keyboard="Numeric"
                     AutomationId="noClearButtonCombo"/>

The following image shows the result:

For a complete ComboBox configuration example, see the SDKBrowser App and navigate to ComboBox > Features.

Drop-Down Behavior

Use the following properties to control how the drop-down opens, closes, and appears:

• DropDownWidth (double)—Defines the width of the drop-down.
• DropDownHeight (double)—Defines the height of the drop-down.
• DropDownMaxHeight (double)—Defines the max height of the drop-down. Always set the DropDownMaxHeight, so that you can have a predefined height for the drop-down. If using both the DropDownMaxHeight and DropDownHeight properties, the max height value must be higher.
• DropDownVerticalOffset (double)—Defines the vertical offset of the drop-down part of the control. This property allows an option to modify the control with no space between the ComboBox and the drop-down.
• IsDropDownOpen (bool)—Defines whether the drop-down part of the control is opened. The default value is true.
• IsDropDownClosedOnSelection (bool)—Defines whether the drop-down will be closed when the item is selected or deselected. The default value is true.

The following example sets DropDownWidth:

XAML

<telerik:RadComboBox DropDownWidth="70"
                     ItemsSource="{Binding Items}"
                     DisplayMemberPath="Name"
                     AutomationId="dropdownWidthCombo"/>

The following example sets DropDownHeight:

XAML

<telerik:RadComboBox DropDownHeight="30"
                     ItemsSource="{Binding Items}"
                     DisplayMemberPath="Name"
                     AutomationId="dropdownHeightCombo"/>

The following example sets DropDownMaxHeight:

XAML

<telerik:RadComboBox DropDownMaxHeight="200"
                     ItemsSource="{Binding Items}"
                     DisplayMemberPath="Name"
                     AutomationId="dropdownMaxHeightCombo"/>

The following example sets DropDownVerticalOffset:

XAML

<telerik:RadComboBox DropDownVerticalOffset="25"
                     ItemsSource="{Binding Items}"
                     DisplayMemberPath="Name"
                     AutomationId="dropdownVerticalOffsetCombo"/>

The following example sets IsDropDownClosedOnSelection:

XAML

<telerik:RadComboBox IsDropDownClosedOnSelection="False"
                     ItemsSource="{Binding Items}"
                     DisplayMemberPath="Name"
                     AutomationId="openedAfterSelectionCombo"/>

The following example sets OpenOnFocus:

XAML

<telerik:RadComboBox OpenOnFocus="False" 
                     ItemsSource="{Binding Items}"
                     IsEditable="True"
                     SearchTextPath="Name"
                     DisplayMemberPath="Name"
                     AutomationId="notOpeningOnFocusCombo"/>

See Add a Select All option in the ComboBox drop-down if you want to let users select all items from the drop-down list.

Keyboard

Use the Keyboard (Microsoft.Maui.Keyboard)property to define which on-screen keyboard the device shows. The default value is Text.

For a ComboBox drop-down configuration example, see the SDKBrowser App and navigate to ComboBox > Features.

See Also

• Data Binding
• Edit Mode & Search
• Selection