.NET MAUI ComboBox Keyboard Support

Updated on Jun 29, 2026

The Telerik UI for .NET MAUI ComboBox provides keyboard navigation support on WinUI and MacCatalyst.

The following table lists the actions and keyboard combinations that are available in the ComboBox:

Hotkey Combinations	Action
F4	Shows the drop-down if it is closed. If the drop-down is opened pressing the F4 key will submit the selection and close the drop-down.
Up Arrow / Down Arrow	If the drop-down is opened, pressing Up/Down Arrows changes the highlighted item in the drop-down list. If it is closed, Up/Down Arrows change SelectedItem only when SelectionMode is Single.
Left Arrow / Right Arrow	If the drop-down is opened, pressing Left/Right Arrows changes the highlighted item in the drop-down list. If it is closed, Left/Right Arrows change SelectedItem only when SelectionMode is Single. They work only when IsEditable is False.
Enter	Opens the drop-down when it is closed. If it is opened, commits the currently highlighted item (in multiple selection mode, toggles the highlighted item).
Esc	Takes effect only when the drop-down is opened. It cancels the selection and closes the drop-down of the ComboBox.Esc key is not supported in MacOS when IsEditable is True.
Home / End	Works only when IsEditable is False. When the drop-down is opened, Home/End changes the highlighted item to the first/last item. If the drop-down is closed, Home/End changes SelectedItem to the first/last item only when SelectionMode is Single.
PageUp / PageDown	Pressing any of these keys will open the drop-down when it is closed. If the drop-down is opened pressing PageUp/PageDown will change the highlighted item.

On MacOS when IsEditable property of the ComboBox is True, Command key should be pressed to enable the previously described hotkeys.

To enable the keyboard support when the drop-down is opened and when setting the custom item and selected item templates in ComboBox for .NET MAUI, wrap the content of the templates in a RadComboBoxItem. Define the necessary visual states of the RadComboBoxItem, specifically MouseOver and Highlighted.

Here is a sample ComboBox definition in XAML:

XAML

<telerik:RadComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Items}" 
                     DisplayMemberPath="Name" 
                     x:Name="combo"
                     Placeholder="Select City">
    <telerik:RadComboBox.ItemTemplate>
        <DataTemplate>
            <telerik:RadComboBoxItem>
                <VisualStateManager.VisualStateGroups>
                    <VisualStateGroup x:Name="CommonStates">
                        <VisualState x:Name="Normal"/>
                        <VisualState x:Name="MouseOver">
                            <VisualState.Setters>
                                <Setter Property="telerik:RadComboBoxItem.BackgroundColor" Value="LightGray"/>
                            </VisualState.Setters>
                        </VisualState>
                        <VisualState Name="Highlighted">
                            <VisualState.Setters>
                                <Setter Property="telerik:RadComboBoxItem.BackgroundColor" Value="LightGray" />
                            </VisualState.Setters>
                        </VisualState>
                    </VisualStateGroup>
                </VisualStateManager.VisualStateGroups>
                <Label Text="{Binding Name}"
                       Padding="8, 7, 0, 7"
                       TextColor="Black"/>
            </telerik:RadComboBoxItem>
        </DataTemplate>
    </telerik:RadComboBox.ItemTemplate>
    <telerik:RadComboBox.SelectedItemTemplate>
        <DataTemplate>
            <telerik:RadComboBoxItem>
                <VisualStateManager.VisualStateGroups>
                    <VisualStateGroup x:Name="CommonStates">
                        <VisualState x:Name="Normal"/>
                        <VisualState x:Name="MouseOver">
                            <VisualState.Setters>
                                <Setter Property="telerik:RadComboBoxItem.BackgroundColor" Value="LightGray"/>
                            </VisualState.Setters>
                        </VisualState>
                        <VisualState Name="Highlighted">
                            <VisualState.Setters>
                                <Setter Property="telerik:RadComboBoxItem.BackgroundColor" Value="LightCoral" />
                            </VisualState.Setters>
                        </VisualState>
                    </VisualStateGroup>
                </VisualStateManager.VisualStateGroups>
                <VerticalStackLayout>
                    <Label Text="{Binding Name}"
                           Padding="8, 7, 0, 7"
                           TextColor="Black"/>
                    <Label Text="{Binding Population}"
                           FontSize="12"
                           Padding="8, 7, 0, 7"/>
                </VerticalStackLayout>
            </telerik:RadComboBoxItem>
        </DataTemplate>
    </telerik:RadComboBox.SelectedItemTemplate>
</telerik:RadComboBox>

See Also

• Edit Mode & Search
• Single and Multiple Selection