How to close/hide the Android soft keyboard programmatically?

Asked 2023-09-20 20:11:59 View 878,485

I have an EditText and a Button in my layout.

After writing in the edit field and clicking on the Button, I want to hide the virtual keyboard when touching outside the keyboard. I assume that this is a simple piece of code, but where can I find an example of it?

  • What if you have only one EditText and several buttons, like check boxes and radios? The only place you need the keyboard is in the single EditText. How do you register to know that something else was chosen/clicked in order to hide the keyboard? - anyone
  • i feel stupid. I am unable to hide the keyboard on ICS. Tried all methods here and combinations of them. No way. The method to show it works, but I cant hide it no matter what windw token, hide flags, manifest settings or candles to any saints. On keyboard show I always see this: I/LatinIME( 396): InputType.TYPE_NULL is specified W/LatinIME( 396): Unexpected input class: inputType=0x00000000 imeOptions=0x00000000 - anyone
  • /** * This method is used to hide soft keyboard. * @param activity */ public void hideSoftKeyboard(Activity activity) { InputMethodManager inputMethodManager = (InputMethodManager)activity.getSystemService(Activity.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE); inputMethodManager.hideSoftInputFromWindow(activity.getCurrentFocus().getWindowToken(), 0); } - anyone
  • this worked for me - anyone
  • Need to play with InputMethodManager with the INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE to handle soft keyboard like readyandroid.wordpress.com/show-hide-android-soft-keyboard - anyone

Answers

You can force Android to hide the virtual keyboard using the InputMethodManager, calling hideSoftInputFromWindow, passing in the token of the window containing your focused view.

// Check if no view has focus:
View view = this.getCurrentFocus();
if (view != null) {  
    InputMethodManager imm = (InputMethodManager)getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
    imm.hideSoftInputFromWindow(view.getWindowToken(), 0);
}

This will force the keyboard to be hidden in all situations. In some cases, you will want to pass in InputMethodManager.HIDE_IMPLICIT_ONLY as the second parameter to ensure you only hide the keyboard when the user didn't explicitly force it to appear (by holding down the menu).

Note: If you want to do this in Kotlin, use: context?.getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE) as InputMethodManager

Kotlin Syntax

// Only runs if there is a view that is currently focused
this.currentFocus?.let { view ->
    val imm = getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE) as? InputMethodManager
    imm?.hideSoftInputFromWindow(view.windowToken, 0)
}

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

  • now getSystemService() requires a Context and a serviceClass Class. For the context I can call requiredContext but what about for the serviceClass? - anyone
  • @capo11 I tried with Application.Context.getSystemService(), so I didn't need the serviceClass, but it doesn't work - anyone
  • Works well for me inside a Fragment using getActivity().getSystemService()... - anyone

To help clarify this madness, I'd like to begin by apologizing on behalf of all Android users for Google's downright ridiculous treatment of the soft keyboard. The reason there are so many answers, each different, for the same simple question is that this API, like many others in Android, is horribly designed. I can think of no polite way to state it.

I want to hide the keyboard. I expect to provide Android with the following statement: Keyboard.hide(). The end. Thank you very much. But Android has a problem. You must use the InputMethodManager to hide the keyboard. OK, fine, this is Android's API to the keyboard. BUT! You are required to have a Context in order to get access to the IMM. Now we have a problem. I may want to hide the keyboard from a static or utility class that has no use or need for any Context. or And FAR worse, the IMM requires that you specify what View (or even worse, what Window) you want to hide the keyboard FROM.

This is what makes hiding the keyboard so challenging. Dear Google: When I'm looking up the recipe for a cake, there is no RecipeProvider on Earth that would refuse to provide me with the recipe unless I first answer WHO the cake will be eaten by AND where it will be eaten!!

This sad story ends with the ugly truth: to hide the Android keyboard, you will be required to provide 2 forms of identification: a Context and either a View or a Window.

I have created a static utility method that can do the job VERY solidly, provided you call it from an Activity.

public static void hideKeyboard(Activity activity) {
    InputMethodManager imm = (InputMethodManager) activity.getSystemService(Activity.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
    //Find the currently focused view, so we can grab the correct window token from it.
    View view = activity.getCurrentFocus();
    //If no view currently has focus, create a new one, just so we can grab a window token from it
    if (view == null) {
        view = new View(activity);
    }
    imm.hideSoftInputFromWindow(view.getWindowToken(), 0);
}

Be aware that this utility method ONLY works when called from an Activity! The above method calls getCurrentFocus of the target Activity to fetch the proper window token.

But suppose you want to hide the keyboard from an EditText hosted in a DialogFragment? You can't use the method above for that:

hideKeyboard(getActivity()); //won't work

This won't work because you'll be passing a reference to the Fragment's host Activity, which will have no focused control while the Fragment is shown! Wow! So, for hiding the keyboard from fragments, I resort to the lower-level, more common, and uglier:

public static void hideKeyboardFrom(Context context, View view) {
    InputMethodManager imm = (InputMethodManager) context.getSystemService(Activity.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
    imm.hideSoftInputFromWindow(view.getWindowToken(), 0);
}

Below is some additional information gleaned from more time wasted chasing this solution:

About windowSoftInputMode

There's yet another point of contention to be aware of. By default, Android will automatically assign initial focus to the first EditText or focusable control in your Activity. It naturally follows that the InputMethod (typically the soft keyboard) will respond to the focus event by showing itself. The windowSoftInputMode attribute in AndroidManifest.xml, when set to stateAlwaysHidden, instructs the keyboard to ignore this automatically-assigned initial focus.

<activity
    android:name=".MyActivity"
    android:windowSoftInputMode="stateAlwaysHidden"/>

Almost unbelievably, it appears to do nothing to prevent the keyboard from opening when you touch the control (unless focusable="false" and/or focusableInTouchMode="false" are assigned to the control). Apparently, the windowSoftInputMode setting applies only to automatic focus events, not to focus events triggered by touch events.

Therefore, stateAlwaysHidden is VERY poorly named indeed. It should perhaps be called ignoreInitialFocus instead.


UPDATE: More ways to get a window token

If there is no focused view (e.g. can happen if you just changed fragments), there are other views that will supply a useful window token.

These are alternatives for the above code if (view == null) view = new View(activity); These don't refer explicitly to your activity.

Inside a fragment class:

view = getView().getRootView().getWindowToken();

Given a fragment fragment as a parameter:

view = fragment.getView().getRootView().getWindowToken();

Starting from your content body:

view = findViewById(android.R.id.content).getRootView().getWindowToken();

UPDATE 2: Clear focus to avoid showing keyboard again if you open the app from the background

Add this line to the end of the method:

view.clearFocus();

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

  • Why need getRootView() , why not getView() only? - anyone
  • One liner: ((InputMethodManager)getContext().getSystemService(Activity.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE)).hideSoftInputFromWindow(getView().getWindowToken(), 0); - anyone
  • Recently we finally got an official, backwards compatible way to do this - anyone
  • Finally there is an official way stackoverflow.com/a/67683124/4985958 - anyone
  • I have one problem with this. The text inside the EditText field stays underlined as if the keyboard's suggestions were still active. - anyone

Also useful for hiding the soft-keyboard is:

getWindow().setSoftInputMode(
    WindowManager.LayoutParams.SOFT_INPUT_STATE_ALWAYS_HIDDEN
);

This can be used to suppress the soft-keyboard until the user actually touches the editText View.

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

  • This was the only one that worked for in 2020. I have a edit text on the main activity and don't want the keyboard to come up when starting the app. - anyone
  • Try using InputMethodManager to handle the keyboard. Can try following this article. androidacademic.blogspot.com/2023/02/… - anyone

I got one more solution to hide keyboard:

InputMethodManager imm = (InputMethodManager) getSystemService(Activity.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
imm.toggleSoftInput(InputMethodManager.HIDE_IMPLICIT_ONLY, 0);

Here pass HIDE_IMPLICIT_ONLY at the position of showFlag and 0 at the position of hiddenFlag. It will forcefully close soft Keyboard.

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

  • You're using a hide flag in the showflags parameter. This only works because the constants use the same integers. Example using the correct flags - anyone
  • @Mark: Because the method is called "toggleSoftInput", not "hideSoftInput" :) - anyone
  • This doesn't work correctly. It some times shows the keyboard. - anyone

Meier's solution works for me too. In my case, the top level of my App is a tab host and I want to hide the keyword when switching tabs - I get the window token from the tab host View.

tabHost.setOnTabChangedListener(new OnTabChangeListener() {
    public void onTabChanged(String tabId) {
        InputMethodManager imm = (InputMethodManager) getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
        imm.hideSoftInputFromWindow(tabHost.getApplicationWindowToken(), 0);
    }
}

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

Please try this below code in onCreate()

EditText edtView = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.editTextConvertValue);
edtView.setInputType(InputType.TYPE_NULL);

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

  • This method works as a means of getting around the "can't hide the soft keyboard" bug in 2.0 and 2.1 as described in code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=7115 ... the hideSoftInputFromWindow method listed above did not work when I tried it, but editView.setInputType(0) did. - anyone
  • This is legit per Javadoc (not a hack) though I would rewrite the method as editView.setInputType(InputType.TYPE_NULL); - anyone
  • this works, however, it hides the android:hint. i'm using Android 1.5 - anyone
  • It works, but it's also hiding the cursor. I need the cursor, but no system keyboard. - anyone
  • Second part of the answer was copied from another answer. Revision was rolled back. - anyone

Update: I don't know why this solution is not work any more ( I just tested on Android 23). Please use the solution of Saurabh Pareek instead. Here it is:

InputMethodManager imm = (InputMethodManager) getSystemService(Activity.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
//Hide:
imm.toggleSoftInput(InputMethodManager.HIDE_IMPLICIT_ONLY, 0);
//Show
imm.toggleSoftInput(InputMethodManager.SHOW_IMPLICIT, 0);

Old answer:

//Show soft-keyboard:
getWindow().setSoftInputMode(WindowManager.LayoutParams.SOFT_INPUT_STATE_ALWAYS_VISIBLE);
//hide keyboard :
 getWindow().setSoftInputMode(WindowManager.LayoutParams.SOFT_INPUT_STATE_ALWAYS_HIDDEN);

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

  • Where should i place this code? I've tried to paste getWindow().setSoftInputMode(WindowManager.LayoutParams.SOFT_INPUT_STATE_ALWAYS_HIDDEN); in onCreate() but the keyboard is never hidden - anyone
  • does not work, tested in radioGroup.setOnCheckedChangeListener, API 23 - anyone
  • If you look closer, InputMethodManager.HIDE_IMPLICIT_ONLY and InputMethodManager.SHOW_IMPLICIT have the same value, which is "1", so there is no difference between these calls. => not working - anyone
  • if calling imm.toggleSoftInput(InputMethodManager.HIDE_IMPLICIT_ONLY, 0); then keyboard will show on screen :) Best implementation is: github.com/ravindu1024/android-keyboardlistener Shame on Android SDK - anyone
  • I don't know why this solution is not work any more - because it's Android, everything will be able to change, maybe partly of bad design... We write carelessly, then we strike out all and rewrite everything. - anyone
protected void hideSoftKeyboard(EditText input) {
    InputMethodManager imm = (InputMethodManager) getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
    imm.hideSoftInputFromWindow(input.getWindowToken(), 0);    
}

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

  • This worked for me! But why did you put input.setInputType(0) ? I couldn't interact with the EditTextView when I had that line of code (It worked when I removed it). - anyone
  • Probably input.getContext().getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE). - anyone
  • I removed input.setInputType(0); from this code. It changed a keyboard behaviour and inputType for the EditText. - anyone

If all the other answers here don't work for you as you would like them to, there's another way of manually controlling the keyboard.

Create a function with that will manage some of the EditText's properties:

public void setEditTextFocus(boolean isFocused) {
    searchEditText.setCursorVisible(isFocused);
    searchEditText.setFocusable(isFocused);
    searchEditText.setFocusableInTouchMode(isFocused);

    if (isFocused) {
        searchEditText.requestFocus();
    }
}

Then, make sure that onFocus of the EditText you open/close the keyboard:

searchEditText.setOnFocusChangeListener(new OnFocusChangeListener() {
    @Override
    public void onFocusChange(View v, boolean hasFocus) {
        if (v == searchEditText) {
            if (hasFocus) {
                // Open keyboard
                ((InputMethodManager) context.getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE)).showSoftInput(searchEditText, InputMethodManager.SHOW_FORCED);
            } else {
                // Close keyboard
                ((InputMethodManager) context.getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE)).hideSoftInputFromWindow(searchEditText.getWindowToken(), 0);
            }
        }
    }
});

Now, whenever you want to open the keyboard manually call:

setEditTextFocus(true);

And for closing call:

setEditTextFocus(false);

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

  • I got 'Cannot resolve symbol context', on 7th and 10th line of second block of code. - anyone
  • Use getContext() instead - anyone
  • Context context = View.getContext(); - anyone

Saurabh Pareek has the best answer so far.

Might as well use the correct flags, though.

/* hide keyboard */
((InputMethodManager) getSystemService(Activity.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE))
    .toggleSoftInput(InputMethodManager.SHOW_IMPLICIT, 0);

/* show keyboard */
((InputMethodManager) getSystemService(Activity.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE))
    .toggleSoftInput(0, InputMethodManager.HIDE_IMPLICIT_ONLY);

Example of real use

/* click button */
public void onClick(View view) {      
  /* hide keyboard */
  ((InputMethodManager) getSystemService(Activity.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE))
      .toggleSoftInput(InputMethodManager.SHOW_IMPLICIT, 0);

  /* start loader to check parameters ... */
}

/* loader finished */
public void onLoadFinished(Loader<Object> loader, Object data) {
    /* parameters not valid ... */

    /* show keyboard */
    ((InputMethodManager) getSystemService(Activity.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE))
        .toggleSoftInput(0, InputMethodManager.HIDE_IMPLICIT_ONLY);

    /* parameters valid ... */
}

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

from so searching, here I found an answer that works for me

// Show soft-keyboard:
InputMethodManager imm = (InputMethodManager) getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
imm.toggleSoftInput(InputMethodManager.SHOW_FORCED, 0);

// Hide soft-keyboard:
getWindow().setSoftInputMode(WindowManager.LayoutParams.SOFT_INPUT_STATE_ALWAYS_HIDDEN);

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

The short answer

In your OnClick listener call the onEditorAction of the EditText with IME_ACTION_DONE

button.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {

    @Override
    public void onClick(View v) {
        someEditText.onEditorAction(EditorInfo.IME_ACTION_DONE)
    }
});

The drill-down

I feel this method is better, simpler and more aligned with Android's design pattern. In the simple example above (and usually in most of the common cases) you'll have an EditText that has/had focus and it also usually was the one to invoke the keyboard in the first place (it is definitely able to invoke it in many common scenarios). In that same way, it should be the one to release the keyboard, usually that can be done by an ImeAction. Just see how an EditText with android:imeOptions="actionDone" behaves, you want to achieve the same behavior by the same means.


Check this related answer

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

This should work:

public class KeyBoard {

    public static void show(Activity activity){
        InputMethodManager imm = (InputMethodManager) activity.getSystemService(Activity.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
        imm.toggleSoftInput(0, InputMethodManager.HIDE_IMPLICIT_ONLY); // show
    }

    public static void hide(Activity activity){
        InputMethodManager imm = (InputMethodManager) activity.getSystemService(Activity.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
        imm.toggleSoftInput(InputMethodManager.HIDE_IMPLICIT_ONLY, 0); // hide
    }

    public static void toggle(Activity activity){
        InputMethodManager imm = (InputMethodManager) activity.getSystemService(Activity.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
        if (imm.isActive()){
            hide(activity); 
        } else {
            show(activity); 
        }
    }
}

KeyBoard.toggle(activity);

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

  • @YoushaAleayoub yes it will. KeyBoard.toggle(fragment.getActivity()) - anyone
  • @slinden77, lol, I'm talking about your Answer... not this one you have commented. So that answer still WONT work. - anyone
  • @YoushaAleayoub uhm yes it will. The original question doesn't mention fragments, you are the one who mentioned fragments. So my answer is perfectly valid. To use it with fragments, call the method differently from a Fragment, like a commented. Learn how to use methods please and then come back. You're confusing people with your silly replies - anyone

I'm using a custom keyboard to input an Hex number so I can't have the IMM keyboard show up...

In v3.2.4_r1 setSoftInputShownOnFocus(boolean show) was added to control weather or not to display the keyboard when a TextView gets focus, but its still hidden so reflection must be used:

if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB_MR2) {
    try {
        Method method = TextView.class.getMethod("setSoftInputShownOnFocus", boolean.class);
        method.invoke(mEditText, false);
    } catch (Exception e) {
        // Fallback to the second method
    }
}

For older versions, I got very good results (but far from perfect) with a OnGlobalLayoutListener, added with the aid of a ViewTreeObserver from my root view and then checking if the keyboard is shown like this:

@Override
public void onGlobalLayout() {
    Configuration config = getResources().getConfiguration();

    // Dont allow the default keyboard to show up
    if (config.keyboardHidden != Configuration.KEYBOARDHIDDEN_YES) {
        InputMethodManager imm = (InputMethodManager) getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
        imm.hideSoftInputFromWindow(mRootView.getWindowToken(), 0);
    }
}

This last solution may show the keyboard for a split second and messes with the selection handles.

When in the keyboard enters full screen, onGlobalLayout isn't called. To avoid that, use TextView#setImeOptions(int) or in the TextView XML declaration:

android:imeOptions="actionNone|actionUnspecified|flagNoFullscreen|flagNoExtractUi"

Update: Just found what dialogs use to never show the keyboard and works in all versions:

getWindow().setFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_ALT_FOCUSABLE_IM,
        WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_ALT_FOCUSABLE_IM);

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

  • Cool solution, however, if your front activity is not fullscreen, the keyboard is visible behind it. Also the keyboard's cursor movement aid is also still visible. And it's not skinnable. - anyone
  • I second that. Of all the possible ways only the getWindow().setFlags() method works, at least on stock Android 5.1. Note that setSoftInputShownOnFocus() is now setShowSoftInputOnFocus() and no longer hidden but does not work, at least not when the user touches the field. - anyone

Thank God its officially supported after 11 years

First add dependency implementation 'androidx.core:core-ktx:1.7.0' to app gradle

Then get InsetsController from ViewCompat or WindowCompat class.

Finally use hide() and show() function of InsetsController

Edited
Add support for Dialog. Available in BottomSheetDialog. @Rondev.
Using a safer way to get activity instead of directly cast from context.

import android.app.Activity
import android.app.Dialog
import android.content.Context
import android.content.ContextWrapper
import android.view.View
import androidx.core.view.ViewCompat
import androidx.core.view.WindowCompat
import androidx.core.view.WindowInsetsCompat
import androidx.fragment.app.Fragment

fun View.showKeyboard() = ViewCompat.getWindowInsetsController(this)?.show(WindowInsetsCompat.Type.ime())
fun View.hideKeyboard() = ViewCompat.getWindowInsetsController(this)?.hide(WindowInsetsCompat.Type.ime())

fun Dialog.showKeyboard() = window?.decorView?.showKeyboard()
fun Dialog.hideKeyboard() = window?.decorView?.hideKeyboard()

fun Context.showKeyboard() = getActivity()?.showKeyboard()
fun Context.hideKeyboard() = getActivity()?.hideKeyboard()

fun Fragment.showKeyboard() = activity?.showKeyboard()
fun Fragment.hideKeyboard() = activity?.hideKeyboard()

fun Activity.showKeyboard() = WindowCompat.getInsetsController(window, window.decorView)?.show(WindowInsetsCompat.Type.ime())
fun Activity.hideKeyboard() = WindowCompat.getInsetsController(window, window.decorView)?.hide(WindowInsetsCompat.Type.ime())

fun Context.getActivity(): Activity? {
    return when (this) {
        is Activity -> this
        is ContextWrapper -> this.baseContext.getActivity()
        else -> null
    }
}

Old anwser below

Here is the simple project on github

import android.app.Activity
import android.app.Dialog
import android.content.Context
import android.content.ContextWrapper
import android.view.View
import androidx.core.view.ViewCompat
import androidx.core.view.WindowCompat
import androidx.core.view.WindowInsetsCompat
import androidx.fragment.app.Fragment

fun View.showKeyboard() = ViewCompat.getWindowInsetsController(this)?.show(WindowInsetsCompat.Type.ime())
fun View.hideKeyboard() = ViewCompat.getWindowInsetsController(this)?.hide(WindowInsetsCompat.Type.ime())

fun Dialog.showKeyboard() = window?.decorView?.showKeyboard()
fun Dialog.hideKeyboard() = window?.decorView?.hideKeyboard()

fun Context.showKeyboard() = getActivity()?.showKeyboard()
fun Context.hideKeyboard() = getActivity()?.hideKeyboard()

fun Fragment.showKeyboard() = activity?.showKeyboard()
fun Fragment.hideKeyboard() = activity?.hideKeyboard()

fun Activity.showKeyboard() = WindowCompat.getInsetsController(window, window.decorView)?.show(WindowInsetsCompat.Type.ime())
fun Activity.hideKeyboard() = WindowCompat.getInsetsController(window, window.decorView)?.hide(WindowInsetsCompat.Type.ime())

fun Context.getActivity(): Activity? {
    return when (this) {
        is Activity -> this
        is ContextWrapper -> this.baseContext.getActivity()
        else -> null
    }
}

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

  • Requires API level 31 - anyone
  • @Johann For compatibility, use WindowCompat and WindowInsetsControllerCompat. You'll need to upgrade your gradle dependency for androidx.core to at least 1.6.0-alpha03 so that there will be support on SDK < 30. - anyone
  • @Johann take a look at the sample project github.com/sergchil/KeyboardTest - anyone
  • Unfortunately I couldn't get the hide function to work inside a BottomSheetDialogFragment - anyone
  • getWindowInsetsController is deprecated - anyone
public void setKeyboardVisibility(boolean show) {
    InputMethodManager imm = (InputMethodManager) getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
    if(show){
        imm.toggleSoftInput(InputMethodManager.SHOW_FORCED, 0);
    }else{
        imm.hideSoftInputFromWindow(getCurrentFocus().getWindowToken(),0);
    }
}

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

Now, almost 12 years later, we finally have an official, backwards compatible way to do this with AndroidX Core 1.5+:

fun View.hideKeyboard() = ViewCompat.getWindowInsetsController(this)
    ?.hide(WindowInsetsCompat.Type.ime())

or specifically for Fragment:

fun Fragment.hideKeyboard() = ViewCompat.getWindowInsetsController(requireView())
    ?.hide(WindowInsetsCompat.Type.ime())

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

  • Well would you look at that! Of course, it had to involve yet another API (window insets controller vs input method manager), but hey, at least the word 'hide' is there. - anyone
  • If you want to hide the keyboard but only have a reference to the Activity, which view should you use? window.decorView? Before, you would get the windowToken with currentFocus?.windowToken and then use InputMethodManager.hideSoftInputFromWindow(windowToken, 0) - anyone
  • @Mark, good question! Testing shows that window.decorView does not work on API 25-29: ViewCompat.getWindowInsetsController() returns null. currentFocus has a similar problem on API 30. But you can use any view in your layout, e.g. its root view. For hiding keyboard it works, but for showing keyboard you might be better off with some EditText: WindowInsetsControllerCompat.show() uses it to request focus. - anyone
  • Thanks @gmk57 So how about using currentFocus pre-30, and window.decorView 30+? - anyone
  • That might work, but in any case you will have to test it thoroughly. Behavior might depend on device manufacturer, your specific widgets layout and other factors. For example, on one of my devices this method to show keyboard works well with GBoard, but disables SwiftKey completely. This is Android. :( - anyone

I have spent more than two days working through all of the solutions posted in the thread and have found them lacking in one way or another. My exact requirement is to have a button that will with 100% reliability show or hide the on screen keyboard. When the keyboard is in its hidden state is should not re-appear, no matter what input fields the user clicks on. When it is in its visible state the keyboard should not disappear no matter what buttons the user clicks. This needs to work on Android 2.2+ all the way up to the latest devices.

You can see a working implementation of this in my app clean RPN.

After testing many of the suggested answers on a number of different phones (including froyo and gingerbread devices) it became apparent that android apps can reliably:

  1. Temporarily hide the keyboard. It will re-appear again when a user focuses a new text field.
  2. Show the keyboard when an activity starts and set a flag on the activity indicating that they keyboard should always be visible. This flag can only be set when an activity is initialising.
  3. Mark an activity to never show or allow the use of the keyboard. This flag can only be set when an activity is initialising.

For me, temporarily hiding the keyboard is not enough. On some devices it will re-appear as soon as a new text field is focused. As my app uses multiple text fields on one page, focusing a new text field will cause the hidden keyboard to pop back up again.

Unfortunately item 2 and 3 on the list only work reliability when an activity is being started. Once the activity has become visible you cannot permanently hide or show the keyboard. The trick is to actually restart your activity when the user presses the keyboard toggle button. In my app when the user presses on the toggle keyboard button, the following code runs:

private void toggleKeyboard(){

    if(keypadPager.getVisibility() == View.VISIBLE){
        Intent i = new Intent(this, MainActivity.class);
        i.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NO_ANIMATION);
        Bundle state = new Bundle();
        onSaveInstanceState(state);
        state.putBoolean(SHOW_KEYBOARD, true);
        i.putExtras(state);

        startActivity(i);
    }
    else{
        Intent i = new Intent(this, MainActivity.class);
        i.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NO_ANIMATION);
        Bundle state = new Bundle();
        onSaveInstanceState(state);
        state.putBoolean(SHOW_KEYBOARD, false);
        i.putExtras(state);

        startActivity(i);
    }
}

This causes the current activity to have its state saved into a Bundle, and then the activity is started, passing through an boolean which indicates if the keyboard should be shown or hidden.

Inside the onCreate method the following code is run:

if(bundle.getBoolean(SHOW_KEYBOARD)){
    ((InputMethodManager) getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE)).showSoftInput(newEquationText,0);
    getWindow().setSoftInputMode(LayoutParams.SOFT_INPUT_STATE_ALWAYS_VISIBLE);
}
else{
    getWindow().setFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_ALT_FOCUSABLE_IM,
            WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_ALT_FOCUSABLE_IM);
}

If the soft keyboard should be shown, then the InputMethodManager is told to show the keyboard and the window is instructed to make the soft input always visible. If the soft keyboard should be hidden then the WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_ALT_FOCUSABLE_IM is set.

This approach works reliably on all devices I have tested on - from a 4 year old HTC phone running android 2.2 up to a nexus 7 running 4.2.2. The only disadvantage with this approach is you need to be careful with handling the back button. As my app essentially only has one screen (its a calculator) I can override onBackPressed() and return to the devices home screen.

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

  • elaborate workaround, but i think it's just too much , to recreate thousands of objects just to hide the Keyboard. I dont know who designed the IMM for android, but it smells like a Windows APi. In my opinion, a good IME should have two methods: hide and show :-) - anyone
  • Its all true, but my workaround does have one advantage - it always works! There is no other solution I could find that would always toggle the keyboard, regardless of of what fields in the UI have the focus, what the user has done to toggle and keyboard and what version of android they are running :-\ - anyone
  • Man, I'm totally desperate to hide the keyboard. Tried thousands of things and noooone works. But your workaround is too much for me, I'd have to recreate like 10 fragments, initialize services, delete a lot of WeakReferences .... you know? the GC would just throw away like 25mb :S ... Still looking for a reliable way to do it :( - anyone
  • @Dmitry well it's not a hello world...it's a complex application for tablets. I refuse to totally unload it from memory just to hide a silly keyboard... Anyway I found something that works combining the thousand solutions proposed here :) - anyone

Alternatively to this all around solution, if you wanted to close the soft keyboard from anywhere without having a reference to the (EditText) field that was used to open the keyboard, but still wanted to do it if the field was focused, you could use this (from an Activity):

if (getCurrentFocus() != null) {
    InputMethodManager imm = (InputMethodManager) getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
    imm.hideSoftInputFromWindow(getCurrentFocus().getWindowToken(), 0);
}

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

Thanks to this SO answer, I derived the following which, in my case, works nicely when scrolling through the the fragments of a ViewPager...

private void hideKeyboard() {   
    // Check if no view has focus:
    View view = this.getCurrentFocus();
    if (view != null) {
        InputMethodManager inputManager = (InputMethodManager) this.getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
        inputManager.hideSoftInputFromWindow(view.getWindowToken(), InputMethodManager.HIDE_NOT_ALWAYS);
    }
}

private void showKeyboard() {   
    // Check if no view has focus:
    View view = this.getCurrentFocus();
    if (view != null) {
        InputMethodManager inputManager = (InputMethodManager) this.getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
        inputManager.showSoftInput(view, InputMethodManager.SHOW_IMPLICIT);
    }
}

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

Above answers work for different scenario's but If you want to hide the keyboard inside a view and struggling to get the right context try this:

setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
    @Override
    public void onClick(View v) {
        hideSoftKeyBoardOnTabClicked(v);
    }
}

private void hideSoftKeyBoardOnTabClicked(View v) {
    if (v != null && context != null) {
        InputMethodManager imm = (InputMethodManager) context.getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
        imm.hideSoftInputFromWindow(v.getApplicationWindowToken(), InputMethodManager.HIDE_NOT_ALWAYS);
    }
}

and to get the context fetch it from constructor:)

public View/RelativeLayout/so and so (Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {
    super(context, attrs, defStyle);
    this.context = context;
    init();
}

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

If you want to close the soft keyboard during a unit or functional test, you can do so by clicking the "back button" from your test:

// Close the soft keyboard from a Test
getInstrumentation().sendKeyDownUpSync(KeyEvent.KEYCODE_BACK);

I put "back button" in quotes, since the above doesn't trigger the onBackPressed() for the Activity in question. It just closes the keyboard.

Make sure to pause for a little while before moving on, since it takes a little while to close the back button, so subsequent clicks to Views, etc., won't be registered until after a short pause (1 second is long enough ime).

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

Here's how you do it in Mono for Android (AKA MonoDroid)

InputMethodManager imm = GetSystemService (Context.InputMethodService) as InputMethodManager;
if (imm != null)
    imm.HideSoftInputFromWindow (searchbox.WindowToken , 0);

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

  • What is searchbox in the snippet? - anyone

This worked for me for all the bizarre keyboard behavior

private boolean isKeyboardVisible() {
    Rect r = new Rect();
    //r will be populated with the coordinates of your view that area still visible.
    mRootView.getWindowVisibleDisplayFrame(r);

    int heightDiff = mRootView.getRootView().getHeight() - (r.bottom - r.top);
    return heightDiff > 100; // if more than 100 pixels, its probably a keyboard...
}

protected void showKeyboard() {
    if (isKeyboardVisible())
        return;
    InputMethodManager inputMethodManager = (InputMethodManager) getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
    if (getCurrentFocus() == null) {
        inputMethodManager.toggleSoftInput(InputMethodManager.SHOW_FORCED, 0);
    } else {
        View view = getCurrentFocus();
        inputMethodManager.showSoftInput(view, InputMethodManager.SHOW_FORCED);
    }
}

protected void hideKeyboard() {
    if (!isKeyboardVisible())
        return;
    InputMethodManager inputMethodManager = (InputMethodManager) getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
    View view = getCurrentFocus();
    if (view == null) {
        if (inputMethodManager.isAcceptingText())
            inputMethodManager.toggleSoftInput(InputMethodManager.HIDE_NOT_ALWAYS, 0);
    } else {
        if (view instanceof EditText)
            ((EditText) view).setText(((EditText) view).getText().toString()); // reset edit text bug on some keyboards bug
        inputMethodManager.hideSoftInputFromInputMethod(view.getWindowToken(), InputMethodManager.HIDE_NOT_ALWAYS);
    }
}

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

Simple and Easy to use method, just call hideKeyboardFrom(YourActivity.this); to hide keyboard

/**
 * This method is used to hide keyboard
 * @param activity
 */
public static void hideKeyboardFrom(Activity activity) {
    InputMethodManager imm = (InputMethodManager) activity.getSystemService(Activity.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
    imm.hideSoftInputFromWindow(activity.getCurrentFocus().getWindowToken(), 0);
}

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

  • You didn't check whether activity.getCurrentFocus() was null, it could well be if the keyboard was actually not visible - anyone

Just use this optimized code in your activity:

if (this.getCurrentFocus() != null) {
    InputMethodManager inputManager = (InputMethodManager) this.getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
    inputManager.hideSoftInputFromWindow(this.getCurrentFocus().getWindowToken(), InputMethodManager.HIDE_NOT_ALWAYS);
}

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

Add to your activity android:windowSoftInputMode="stateHidden" in Manifest file. Example:

<activity
            android:name=".ui.activity.MainActivity"
            android:label="@string/mainactivity"
            android:windowSoftInputMode="stateHidden"/>

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

Kotlin Version via Extension Function

Using kotlin extension functions, it'd be so simple to show and hide the soft keyboard.

ExtensionFunctions.kt

import android.app.Activity
import android.view.View
import android.view.inputmethod.InputMethodManager
import android.widget.EditText
import androidx.fragment.app.Fragment

fun Activity.hideKeyboard(): Boolean {
    return (getSystemService(Activity.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE) as InputMethodManager)
        .hideSoftInputFromWindow((currentFocus ?: View(this)).windowToken, 0)
}

fun Fragment.hideKeyboard(): Boolean {
    return (context?.getSystemService(Activity.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE) as InputMethodManager)
        .hideSoftInputFromWindow((activity?.currentFocus ?: View(context)).windowToken, 0)
}

fun EditText.hideKeyboard(): Boolean {
    return (context.getSystemService(Activity.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE) as InputMethodManager)
        .hideSoftInputFromWindow(windowToken, 0)
}

fun EditText.showKeyboard(): Boolean {
    return (context.getSystemService(Activity.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE) as InputMethodManager)
        .showSoftInput(this, 0)
}

• Usage

Now in your Activity or Fragment, hideKeyboard() is clearly accessible as well as calling it from an instance of EditText like:

editText.hideKeyboard()

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

For Open Keyboard :

InputMethodManager imm = (InputMethodManager) getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
imm.showSoftInput(edtView, InputMethodManager.SHOW_IMPLICIT);

For Close/Hide Keyboard :

 InputMethodManager imm = (InputMethodManager)getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
 imm.hideSoftInputFromWindow(edtView.getWindowToken(), 0);

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

I have the case, where my EditText can be located also in an AlertDialog, so the keyboard should be closed on dismiss. The following code seems to be working anywhere:

public static void hideKeyboard( Activity activity ) {
    InputMethodManager imm = (InputMethodManager)activity.getSystemService( Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE );
    View f = activity.getCurrentFocus();
    if( null != f && null != f.getWindowToken() && EditText.class.isAssignableFrom( f.getClass() ) )
        imm.hideSoftInputFromWindow( f.getWindowToken(), 0 );
    else 
        activity.getWindow().setSoftInputMode( WindowManager.LayoutParams.SOFT_INPUT_STATE_ALWAYS_HIDDEN );
}

Answered   2023-09-20 20:11:59

  • This solution is better because you have not to control which EditText pass as a parameter to hideSoftInputFromWindow() method. It works great!! - anyone