UITableView - change section header color

Question

How can I change color of a section header in UITableView?

EDIT: The answer provided by DJ-S should be considered for iOS 6 and above. The accepted answer is out of date.

Gallo

I really appreciate the edit RE newer iOS versions. – Savonarola

Answer 1

Hopefully this method from the UITableViewDelegate protocol will get you started:

Objective-C:

- (UIView *) tableView:(UITableView *)tableView viewForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section 
{
  UIView *headerView = [[[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, tableView.bounds.size.width, 30)] autorelease];
  if (section == integerRepresentingYourSectionOfInterest)
     [headerView setBackgroundColor:[UIColor redColor]];
  else 
     [headerView setBackgroundColor:[UIColor clearColor]];
  return headerView;
}

Swift:

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView!, viewForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> UIView!
{
  let headerView = UIView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: tableView.bounds.size.width, height: 30))
  if (section == integerRepresentingYourSectionOfInterest) {
    headerView.backgroundColor = UIColor.redColor()
  } else {
    headerView.backgroundColor = UIColor.clearColor()
  }
  return headerView
}

Updated 2017:

Swift 3:

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, viewForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> UIView?
    {
        let headerView = UIView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: tableView.bounds.size.width, height: 30))
        if (section == integerRepresentingYourSectionOfInterest) {
            headerView.backgroundColor = UIColor.red
        } else {
            headerView.backgroundColor = UIColor.clear
        }
        return headerView
    }

Replace [UIColor redColor] with whichever UIColor you would like. You may also wish to adjust the dimensions of headerView.

Yoruba

It can also help to adjust the section header size using self.tableView.sectionHeaderHeight. Otherwise, you may have trouble seeing the text you display for the section title. – Charinile

Works fine with [UIColor xxxColor] however when I try a custom colour like ones I can get from photoshop (so using the UIColor red:green:blue:alpha:, it is just white. Am I doing something wrong? – Leandraleandre

Post a separate question and we'll try to help. Include source code. – Yoruba

Note that this answer (while correct) will simply return a UIView with no content. – Rodrigo

Unless the person asking the question defines explicitly what kind of view they are trying to create, then any answer can, at best, only demonstrate the general idea of what can be done. Hope this is helpful for you, Greg. – Yoruba

i can even set the size of 0 and it will still work: CGRectMake(0, 0, 0, 0) – Sybil

You can anonymously downvote this, whoever you are, but I still answered the question correctly. Cheers! – Yoruba

This is pretty outdated information and simply creating another view isn't the best answer. The idea is to get the proper view and change the color or tint on it. The answer below using willDisplayHeaderView is a much better approach. – Vermiform

The @DjS answer below is a better solution, for sure, but to make this answer work with text in the header, simply create and return a UILabel (filled in appropriately) rather than a blank UIView. – Applaud

How to set the frame of the header view to respect the safe area margins? – Babette

Answer 2

This is an old question, but I think the answer needs to be updated.

This method does not involve defining and creating your own custom view. In iOS 6 and up, you can easily change the background color and the text color by defining the

-(void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView 
    willDisplayHeaderView:(UIView *)view 
    forSection:(NSInteger)section

section delegate method

For example:

- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView willDisplayHeaderView:(UIView *)view forSection:(NSInteger)section
{
    // Background color
    view.tintColor = [UIColor blackColor];

    // Text Color
    UITableViewHeaderFooterView *header = (UITableViewHeaderFooterView *)view;
    [header.textLabel setTextColor:[UIColor whiteColor]];

    // Another way to set the background color
    // Note: does not preserve gradient effect of original header
    // header.contentView.backgroundColor = [UIColor blackColor];
}

Taken from my post here: https://happyteamlabs.com/blog/ios-how-to-customize-table-view-header-and-footer-colors/

Swift 3 / 4

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int){
    view.tintColor = UIColor.red
    let header = view as! UITableViewHeaderFooterView
    header.textLabel?.textColor = UIColor.white
}

Calif

I had no idea this had even been added to the SDK. Brilliant! Absolutely the correct answer. – Costello

OP - Please update the accepted answer to this one. Much cleaner than the old approaches. – Rink

This doesn't seem to be working for me. The text color works but not the tint for the header background. I am on iOS 7.0.4 – Infirmary

The delegate willDisplayHeaderView is not called sometimes, does anyone have similar issue? – Emelina

user1639164 ,you can use header.backgroundView.backgroundColor=[UIColor blackColor]; to set the tint for the header background. – Galibi

Is there any way to make the header opaque? Using this answer it's translucent in iOS 7. – Late

For iOS8 this is still the right answer. You have to implement -(UIView *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView viewForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section and then this method. Then you can change the header's properties. – Kezer

For anyone wanting a solution using Swift 1.2 with iOS 8+ I have added a solution :) – Bunker

@Late it's been a while obviously, but for future people the header.contentView.backgroundColor = [UIColor blackColor]; option will give you an opaque header – Djebel

Answer 3

Here's how to change the text color.

UILabel *label = [[[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(10, 3, tableView.bounds.size.width - 10, 18)] autorelease];
label.text = @"Section Header Text Here";
label.textColor = [UIColor colorWithRed:1.0 green:1.0 blue:1.0 alpha:0.75];
label.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
[headerView addSubview:label];

Heterolecithal

Thanks DoctorG - This was useful. BTW - to keep the existing label provided by the dataSource, I modified the 2nd line like so: label.text = [tableView.dataSource tableView:tableView titleForHeaderInSection:section]; Might be bad form, but it worked for me. Maybe this can help someone else. – Sweet

@JJ That form is actually fine, since you're calling the same method you'd initially use to define the table's section header. – Glochidium

I removed the autorelease and changed it to an explicit release. UITableView formatting methods are called many, many times. Avoid using autorelease when possible. – Axenic

@Harkonian, rather than change the submitted answer, please recommend the change in a comment to the answer. It's considered bad form to change other people's code with an edit. Spelling errors, and bad formatting and grammar are fair game. – Swim

Instead of addSubview:UILabel, you should just be returning UILabel in viewForHeaderInSection. UILable is-a UIView already :) – Tremor

You'll want to add the UILabel as a subview if you want the label placed relative to the header view he's creating. For example, if you want to shift the label 20 pixels to the right to match placement of the default label. – Ron

Keep in-mind that a UILabel's default text style may be different than a UITableView section's default text style. You may need to adjust your label to match the appropriate style. – Rodrigo

Answer 4

You can do this if you want header with custom color. This solution works great since iOS 6.0.

Objective C:

[[UITableViewHeaderFooterView appearance] setTintColor:[UIColor redColor]];

Swift:

UITableViewHeaderFooterView.appearance().tintColor = .white

Nifty

hm... it does not work for me. tried iOS 6 simulator and iOS 7 device. Did you tested this way? Where should i place it? – Weltschmerz

It can be done in application:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions: method of application delegate. – Nifty

my fault: I tried to use this way while UITableViewStyleGrouped BTW: to change text color this way should be used https://mcmap.net/q/76433/-changing-the-color-of-uitableview-section-headers – Weltschmerz

If it's in custom UIView, just put it in - init method. – Octopus

Other solution is not worked for me but it was worked. – Dixie

Answer 5

The following solution works for Swift 1.2 with iOS 8+

override func tableView(tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int) {

    // This changes the header background
    view.tintColor = UIColor.blueColor()

    // Gets the header view as a UITableViewHeaderFooterView and changes the text colour
    var headerView: UITableViewHeaderFooterView = view as! UITableViewHeaderFooterView
    headerView.textLabel.textColor = UIColor.redColor()

}

Bunker

Answer 6

Setting the background color on UITableViewHeaderFooterView has been deprecated. Please use contentView.backgroundColor instead.

Grandmamma

Answer 7

You can do it on main.storyboard in about 2 seconds.

1. Select Table View
2. Go to Attributes Inspector
3. List item
4. Scroll down to View subheading
5. Change "background"

Tannin

Answer 8

Don't forget to add this piece of code from the delegate or your view will be cut off or appear behind the table in some cases, relative to the height of your view/label.

- (CGFloat)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView heightForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section
{
    return 30;
}

Fernyak

This is not needed anymore if you follow the iOS6 and later answer by Dj S. – Parthenope

Answer 9

If you don't want to create a custom view, you can also change the color like this (requires iOS 6):

-(void) tableView:(UITableView *)tableView willDisplayHeaderView:(UIView *)view forSection:(NSInteger)section {
    if ([view isKindOfClass: [UITableViewHeaderFooterView class]]) {
        UITableViewHeaderFooterView* castView = (UITableViewHeaderFooterView*) view;
        UIView* content = castView.contentView;
        UIColor* color = [UIColor colorWithWhite:0.85 alpha:1.]; // substitute your color here
        content.backgroundColor = color;
    }
}

Sporogonium

Answer 10

For swift 5 +

In willDisplayHeaderView Method

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int) {

     //For Header Background Color
     view.tintColor = .black

    // For Header Text Color
    let header = view as! UITableViewHeaderFooterView
    header.textLabel?.textColor = .white
}

I hope this helps you :]

Lancaster

let header = view as! UITableViewHeaderFooterView – Sherman

Answer 11

Set the background and text color of section area: (Thanks to William Jockusch and Dj S)

- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView willDisplayHeaderView:(UIView *)view forSection:(NSInteger)section
{
    if ([view isKindOfClass: [UITableViewHeaderFooterView class]]) {
        UITableViewHeaderFooterView* castView = (UITableViewHeaderFooterView*) view;
        castView.contentView.backgroundColor = [UIColor grayColor];
        [castView.textLabel setTextColor:[UIColor grayColor]];
    }
}

Gymnast

Answer 12

Swift 4

To change the background color, text label color and font for the Header View of a UITableView Section, simply override willDisplayHeaderView for your table view like so:

override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int) {
        let header = view as! UITableViewHeaderFooterView
        header.backgroundView?.backgroundColor = .white
        header.textLabel?.textColor = .black
        header.textLabel?.font = UIFont(name: "Helvetica-Bold", size: 14)
} 

This worked perfectly for me; hope it does help you too!

Alleras

Setting the background color on UITableViewHeaderFooterView has been deprecated. You must set a custom UIView with your desired background color to the backgroundView property instead. – Tempa

Answer 13

Here's how to add an image in header view:

- (UIView *) tableView:(UITableView *)tableView viewForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section 
{
    UIView *headerView = [[[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, tableView.bounds.size.width, 30)] autorelease];
    UIImageView *headerImage = [[[UIImageView alloc] initWithImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"top-gery-bar.png"]] autorelease];

    headerImage.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, tableView.bounds.size.width, 30);

    [headerView addSubview:headerImage];

    return headerView;
}

Roadster

Answer 14

For iOS8 (Beta) and Swift choose the RGB Color you want and try this:

override func tableView(tableView: UITableView!, viewForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> UIView! {
    var header :UITableViewHeaderFooterView = UITableViewHeaderFooterView()

    header.contentView.backgroundColor = UIColor(red: 254.0/255.0, green: 190.0/255.0, blue: 127.0/255.0, alpha: 1)
    return header

}

(The "override" is there since i´m using the UITableViewController instead of a normal UIViewController in my project, but it´s not mandatory for changing the section header color)

The text of your header will still be seen. Note that you will need to adjust the section header height.

Good Luck.

Eschalot

Answer 15

SWIFT 2

I was able to successfully change the section background color with an added blur effect (which is really cool). To change the background color of section easily:

1. First go to Storyboard and select the Table View
2. Go to Attributes Inspector
3. List item
4. Scroll down to View
5. Change "Background"

Then for blur effect, add to code:

override func tableView(tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int) {

    // This is the blur effect

    let blurEffect = UIBlurEffect(style: .Light)
    let blurEffectView = UIVisualEffectView(effect: blurEffect)

    // Gets the header view as a UITableViewHeaderFooterView and changes the text colour and adds above blur effect
    let headerView: UITableViewHeaderFooterView = view as! UITableViewHeaderFooterView
    headerView.textLabel!.textColor = UIColor.darkGrayColor()
    headerView.textLabel!.font = UIFont(name: "HelveticaNeue-Light", size: 13)
    headerView.tintColor = .groupTableViewBackgroundColor()
    headerView.backgroundView = blurEffectView

}

Flashover

Answer 16

Swift 4 makes it very easy. Simply add this to your class and set the color as needed.

override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int) {
        view.backgroundColor = UIColor(red: 0.094, green: 0.239, blue: 0.424, alpha: 1.0)
    }

or if a simple color

override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int) {
        view.backgroundColor = UIColor.white
    }

Updated for Swift 5

override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int) {
        view.tintColor = UIColor(red: 0.094, green: 0.239, blue: 0.424, alpha: 1.0)
    }

or if a simple color

override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int) {
        view.tintColor = UIColor.white
    }

Gastrula

in iOS 13 replace "view.backgroundColor" to "view.tintColor". – Pydna

Worked as expected... (0_0) Thanks.! – Boccie

Answer 17

For me none of above works after wasting 2 hours what this is the solution. In my case it was custom view but I cannot able to change it from storyboard and view's awakeFromNib for some reason.

override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int) {
        let header = view as! UITableViewHeaderFooterView
        header.contentView.backgroundColor = .white
    }

Rosalbarosalee

Answer 18

I know its answered, just in case, In Swift use the following

    override func tableView(tableView: UITableView, viewForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> UIView? {
        let tableViewWidth = self.tableView.bounds

        let headerView = UIView(frame: CGRectMake(0, 0, tableViewWidth.size.width, self.tableView.sectionHeaderHeight))
        headerView.backgroundColor = UIColor.greenColor()

        return headerView
    }

Anthracoid

Answer 19

iOS 8+

func tableView(tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int) {
        tableView.tableHeaderView?.backgroundColor = UIColor.blue()
}

Mauricemauricio

Answer 20

Based on @Dj S answer, using Swift 3. This works great on iOS 10.

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int) {
    // Background color
    view.tintColor = UIColor.black

    // Text Color
    let headerView = view as! UITableViewHeaderFooterView
    headerView.textLabel?.textColor = UIColor.white
}

Featherstone

Answer 21

I have a project using static table view cells, in iOS 7.x. willDisplayHeaderView does not fire. However, this method works ok:

- (UIView *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView viewForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section
{
    NSLog(@"%s", __FUNCTION__);
    CGRect headerFrame = CGRectMake(x, y, w, h);    
    UIView *headerView = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:headerFrame];  
    headerView.backgroundColor = [UIColor blackColor];

Charmainecharmane

Answer 22

 -(void) tableView:(UITableView *)tableView willDisplayHeaderView:(UIView *)view
  forSection:(NSInteger)section
  {
        if ([view isKindOfClass: [UITableViewHeaderFooterView class]])
        {
             UITableViewHeaderFooterView *castView = (UITableViewHeaderFooterView *) view;
             UIView *content = castView.contentView;
             UIColor *color = [UIColor whiteColor]; // substitute your color here
             content.backgroundColor = color;
             [castView.textLabel setTextColor:[UIColor blackColor]];
        }
 }

Ajax

Answer 23

I think this code is not so bad.

func tableView(tableView: UITableView, viewForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> UIView? {
    let headerView = tableView.dequeueReusableHeaderFooterViewWithIdentifier(MyHeaderView.reuseIdentifier) as MyHeaderView
    let backgroundView = UIView()
    backgroundView.backgroundColor = UIColor.whiteColor()
    headerView.backgroundView = backgroundView
    headerView.textLabel.text = "hello"
    return headerView
}

Pentosan

Answer 24

In iOS 7.0.4 I created a custom header with it's own XIB. Nothing mentioned here before worked. It had to be the subclass of the UITableViewHeaderFooterView to work with the dequeueReusableHeaderFooterViewWithIdentifier: and it seems that class is very stubborn regarding the background color. So finally I added an UIView (you could do it either with code or IB) with name customBackgroudView, and then set it's backgroundColor property. In layoutSubviews: I set that view's frame to bounds. It work with iOS 7 and gives no glitches.

// in MyTableHeaderView.xib drop an UIView at top of the first child of the owner
// first child becomes contentView

// in MyTableHeaderView.h
@property (nonatomic, weak) IBOutlet UIView * customBackgroundView;

// in MyTableHeaderView.m
-(void)layoutSubviews;
{
    [super layoutSubviews];

    self.customBackgroundView.frame = self.bounds;
}
// if you don't have XIB / use IB, put in the initializer:
-(id)initWithReuseIdentifier:(NSString *)reuseIdentifier
{
    ...
    UIView * customBackgroundView = [[UIView alloc] init];
    [self.contentView addSubview:customBackgroundView];
    _customBackgroundView = customBackgroundView;
    ...
}


// in MyTableViewController.m
-(UIView *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView viewForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section
{
    MyTableHeaderView * header = [self.tableView
                                          dequeueReusableHeaderFooterViewWithIdentifier:@"MyTableHeaderView"];
    header.customBackgroundView.backgroundColor = [UIColor redColor];
    return header;
}

Dovecote

Answer 25

Just change the color of layer of the header view

- (UIView *) tableView:(UITableView *)tableView viewForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section 
{
  UIView *headerView = [[[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0,    tableView.bounds.size.width, 30)] autorelease];
 headerView.layer.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor].CGColor
}

Peony

Answer 26

If anyone needs swift, keeps title:

override func tableView(tableView: UITableView, viewForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> UIView? {
    let view = UIView(frame: CGRect(x: 0,y: 0,width: self.tableView.frame.width, height: 30))
    view.backgroundColor = UIColor.redColor()
    let label = UILabel(frame: CGRect(x: 15,y: 5,width: 200,height: 25))
    label.text = self.tableView(tableView, titleForHeaderInSection: section)
    view.addSubview(label)
    return view
}

Carmelocarmen

Answer 27

I got message from Xcode through console log

[TableView] Setting the background color on UITableViewHeaderFooterView has been deprecated. Please set a custom UIView with your desired background color to the backgroundView property instead.

Then I just create a new UIView and lay it as background of HeaderView. Not a good solution but it easy as Xcode said.

Electro

Answer 28

In my case, It worked like this:

let headerIdentifier = "HeaderIdentifier"
let header = self.tableView.dequeueReusableHeaderFooterView(withIdentifier: headerIdentifier)
header.contentView.backgroundColor = UIColor.white

Squalor

Answer 29

Just set the background color of the background view:

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int){         
  let tableHeader = view as! UITableViewHeaderFooterView        
  tableHeader.backgroundView?.backgroundColor = UIColor.white     
}

Bloomer

Answer 30

If you are using a custom header view:

class YourCustomHeaderFooterView: UITableViewHeaderFooterView { 

override func awakeFromNib() {
    super.awakeFromNib()
    self.contentView.backgroundColor = .white //Or any color you want
}

}

Kraken

Answer 31

With RubyMotion / RedPotion, paste this into your TableScreen:

  def tableView(_, willDisplayHeaderView: view, forSection: section)
    view.textLabel.textColor = rmq.color.your_text_color
    view.contentView.backgroundColor = rmq.color.your_background_color
  end

Works like a charm!

Masthead

Answer 32

Although func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int) will work as well, you can acheive this without implementing another delegate method. in you func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, viewForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> UIView? method, you can use view.contentView.backgroundColor = UIColor.white instead of view.backgroundView?.backgroundColor = UIColor.white which is not working. (I know that backgroundView is optional, but even when it is there, this is not woking without implementing willDisplayHeaderView

Leacock

Answer 33

Using UIAppearance you can change it for all headers in your application like this:

UITableViewHeaderFooterView.appearance().backgroundColor = theme.subViewBackgroundColor

Chlorate

Answer 34

iOS 13> swift 5

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int) {view.tintColor = UIColor.red }

Regalia