Notice: After Volume 1 2025 (Mid of March 2025), updates, bug fixes, and feature enhancements for this control will no longer be available in the Syncfusion package. Please switch to the Syncfusion Toolkit for .NET MAUI for continued support. For a smooth transition refer this migration document.
Getting Started with .NET MAUI Navigation Drawer
10 Dec 202424 minutes to read
This section guides you through setting up and configuring a NavigationDrawer in your .NET MAUI application. Follow the steps below to add a basic Navigation Drawer to your project.
To quickly get started with the .NET MAUI Navigation Drawer, watch this video.
Prerequisites
Before proceeding, ensure the following are set up:
- Install .NET 8 SDK or later is installed.
- Set up a .NET MAUI environment with Visual Studio 2022 (v17.3 or later) or Visual Studio Code. For Visual Studio Code users, ensure that the .NET MAUI workload is installed and configured as described here..
Step 1: Create a New MAUI Project
- Go to File > New > Project and choose the .NET MAUI App template.
- Name the project and choose a location. Then, click Next.
- Select the .NET framework version and click Create.
- Open the command palette by pressing
Ctrl+Shift+P
and type .NET:New Project and enter. - Choose the .NET MAUI App template.
- Select the project location, type the project name and press Enter.
- Then choose Create project.
Step 2: Install the Syncfusion MAUI NavigationDrawer NuGet Package
- In Solution Explorer, right-click the project and choose Manage NuGet Packages.
- Search for Syncfusion.Maui.NavigationDrawer and install the latest version.
- Ensure the necessary dependencies are installed correctly, and the project is restored.
Step 3: Register the handler
Syncfusion.Maui.Core NuGet is a dependent package for all Syncfusion controls of .NET MAUI. In the MauiProgram.cs file, register the handler for Syncfusion core.
using Microsoft.Maui;
using Microsoft.Maui.Hosting;
using Microsoft.Maui.Controls.Compatibility;
using Microsoft.Maui.Controls.Hosting;
using Microsoft.Maui.Controls.Xaml;
using Syncfusion.Maui.Core.Hosting;
namespace NavigationDrawerGettingStarted
{
public static class MauiProgram
{
public static MauiApp CreateMauiApp()
{
var builder = MauiApp.CreateBuilder();
builder
.UseMauiApp<App>()
.ConfigureSyncfusionCore()
.ConfigureFonts(fonts =>
{
fonts.AddFont("OpenSans-Regular.ttf", "OpenSansRegular");
});
return builder.Build();
}
}
}
Step 4: Add a Basic NavigationDrawer
-
To initialize the control, import the NavigationDrawer namespace into your code.
-
Initialize SfNavigationDrawer
<ContentPage
. . .
xmlns:navigationDrawer="clr-namespace:Syncfusion.Maui.NavigationDrawer;assembly=Syncfusion.Maui.NavigationDrawer">
<navigationDrawer:SfNavigationDrawer x:Name="navigationDrawer">
<navigationDrawer:SfNavigationDrawer.ContentView>
<Grid/>
</navigationDrawer:SfNavigationDrawer.ContentView>
</navigationDrawer:SfNavigationDrawer>
</ContentPage>
using Syncfusion.Maui.NavigationDrawer;
namespace NavigationDrawerGettingStarted
{
public partial class MainPage : ContentPage
{
public MainPage()
{
InitializeComponent();
SfNavigationDrawer navigationDrawer = new SfNavigationDrawer();
Grid grid = new Grid();
navigationDrawer.ContentView = grid;
this.Content = navigationDrawer;
}
}
}
NOTE
It is mandatory to set ContentView for SfNavigationDrawer on initializing.
Adjust Drawer Size
The default position of the navigation pane is on the left, so change the drawer width to 250 by using the DrawerWidth property.
<navigationdrawer:SfNavigationDrawer x:Name="navigationDrawer">
<navigationdrawer:SfNavigationDrawer.DrawerSettings>
<navigationdrawer:DrawerSettings DrawerWidth="250"/>
</navigationdrawer:SfNavigationDrawer.DrawerSettings>
<navigationdrawer:SfNavigationDrawer.ContentView>
<Grid/>
</navigationdrawer:SfNavigationDrawer.ContentView>
</navigationdrawer:SfNavigationDrawer>
using Syncfusion.Maui.NavigationDrawer;
namespace NavigationDrawerGettingStarted;
public partial class NavigationDrawerPage : ContentPage
{
public NavigationDrawerPage()
{
InitializeComponent();
SfNavigationDrawer navigationDrawer = new SfNavigationDrawer();
Grid grid = new Grid();
navigationDrawer.ContentView = grid;
navigationDrawer.DrawerSettings = new DrawerSettings()
{
DrawerWidth = 250,
};
this.Content = navigationDrawer;
}
}
NOTE
To change the side of the navigation pane, utilize the Position property. Adjust the drawer height in the Top and Bottom positions using the DrawerHeight property.
Add Hamburger Menu for Toggling Drawer
Create an ImageButton and set the required image to the Source
property. To ensure the image appears correctly, place the image in the Resources/Images
directory. Subscribe Clicked event of the button and invoke the ToggleDrawer() method to toggle the drawer. Properly align the layout of ContentView to position the hamburger icon at the top left, as demonstrated in the following code.
<navigationdrawer:SfNavigationDrawer x:Name="navigationDrawer">
<navigationdrawer:SfNavigationDrawer.DrawerSettings>
<navigationdrawer:DrawerSettings DrawerWidth="250"/>
</navigationdrawer:SfNavigationDrawer.DrawerSettings>
<navigationdrawer:SfNavigationDrawer.ContentView>
<Grid x:Name="mainContentView"
BackgroundColor="White" RowDefinitions="Auto,*">
<HorizontalStackLayout BackgroundColor="#6750A4" Spacing="10" Padding="5,0,0,0">
<ImageButton x:Name="hamburgerButton"
HeightRequest="50"
WidthRequest="50"
HorizontalOptions="Start"
Source="hamburgericon.png"
BackgroundColor="#6750A4"
Clicked="hamburgerButton_Clicked"/>
<Label x:Name="headerLabel"
HeightRequest="50"
HorizontalTextAlignment="Center"
VerticalTextAlignment="Center"
Text="Home" FontSize="16"
TextColor="White"
BackgroundColor="#6750A4"/>
</HorizontalStackLayout>
<Label Grid.Row="1"
x:Name="contentLabel"
VerticalOptions="Center"
HorizontalOptions="Center"
Text="Content View"
FontSize="14"
TextColor="Black"/>
</Grid>
</navigationdrawer:SfNavigationDrawer.ContentView>
</navigationdrawer:SfNavigationDrawer>
namespace NavigationDrawerGettingStarted;
public partial class NavigationDrawerPage : ContentPage
{
SfNavigationDrawer navigationDrawer;
Label contentLabel;
public NavigationDrawerPage()
{
InitializeComponent();
navigationDrawer = new SfNavigationDrawer();
Grid grid = new Grid()
{
RowDefinitions =
{
new RowDefinition {Height=new GridLength(1,GridUnitType.Auto)},
new RowDefinition(),
},
BackgroundColor = Colors.White,
};
HorizontalStackLayout layout = new HorizontalStackLayout()
{
BackgroundColor = Color.FromArgb("#6750A4"),
Spacing = 10,
Padding = new Thickness(5,0,0,0),
};
var hamburgerButton = new ImageButton
{
HeightRequest = 50,
WidthRequest = 50,
HorizontalOptions = LayoutOptions.Start,
BackgroundColor = Color.FromArgb("#6750A4"),
Source = "hamburgericon.png",
};
hamburgerButton.Clicked += hamburgerButton_Clicked;
var label = new Label
{
HeightRequest = 50,
HorizontalTextAlignment = TextAlignment.Center,
VerticalTextAlignment = TextAlignment.Center,
Text = "Home",
FontSize = 16,
TextColor = Colors.White,
BackgroundColor = Color.FromArgb("#6750A4")
};
layout.Children.Add(hamburgerButton);
layout.Children.Add(label);
contentLabel = new Label
{
HorizontalOptions = LayoutOptions.Center,
VerticalOptions = LayoutOptions.Center,
Text = "Content View",
FontSize = 14,
TextColor = Colors.Black
};
grid.SetRow(layout, 0);
grid.SetRow(contentLabel, 1);
grid.Children.Add(layout);
grid.Children.Add(contentLabel);
navigationDrawer.ContentView = grid;
navigationDrawer.DrawerSettings = new DrawerSettings()
{
DrawerWidth = 250,
};
this.Content = navigationDrawer;
}
}
private void hamburgerButton_Clicked(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
navigationDrawer.ToggleDrawer();
}
Set ListView as Drawer Content
Create a ListView with items and set it as DrawerContentView.
<navigationdrawer:SfNavigationDrawer x:Name="navigationDrawer">
<navigationdrawer:SfNavigationDrawer.DrawerSettings>
<navigationdrawer:DrawerSettings DrawerWidth="250"
DrawerHeaderHeight="160">
<navigationdrawer:DrawerSettings.DrawerHeaderView>
<Grid BackgroundColor="#6750A4" RowDefinitions="120,40">
<Image Source="user.png"
HeightRequest="110"
Margin="0,10,0,0"
BackgroundColor="#6750A4"
VerticalOptions="Center"
HorizontalOptions="Center"/>
<Label Text="James Pollock"
Grid.Row="1"
HorizontalTextAlignment="Center"
HorizontalOptions="Center"
FontSize="20"
TextColor="White"/>
</Grid>
</navigationdrawer:DrawerSettings.DrawerHeaderView>
<navigationdrawer:DrawerSettings.DrawerContentView>
<ListView x:Name="listView"
ItemSelected="listView_ItemSelected">
<ListView.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<ViewCell>
<VerticalStackLayout HeightRequest="40">
<Label Margin="10,7,0,0"
Text="{Binding}"
FontSize="16"
TextColor="Black"/>
</VerticalStackLayout>
</ViewCell>
</DataTemplate>
</ListView.ItemTemplate>
</ListView>
</navigationdrawer:DrawerSettings.DrawerContentView>
</navigationdrawer:DrawerSettings>
</navigationdrawer:SfNavigationDrawer.DrawerSettings>
<navigationdrawer:SfNavigationDrawer.ContentView>
<Grid x:Name="mainContentView"
BackgroundColor="White" RowDefinitions="Auto,*">
<HorizontalStackLayout BackgroundColor="#6750A4" Spacing="10" Padding="5,0,0,0">
<ImageButton x:Name="hamburgerButton"
HeightRequest="50"
WidthRequest="50"
HorizontalOptions="Start"
Source="hamburgericon.png"
BackgroundColor="#6750A4"
Clicked="hamburgerButton_Clicked"/>
<Label x:Name="headerLabel"
HeightRequest="50"
HorizontalTextAlignment="Center"
VerticalTextAlignment="Center"
Text="Home" FontSize="16"
TextColor="White"
BackgroundColor="#6750A4"/>
</HorizontalStackLayout>
<Label Grid.Row="1"
x:Name="contentLabel"
VerticalOptions="Center"
HorizontalOptions="Center"
Text="Content View"
FontSize="14"
TextColor="Black"/>
</Grid>
</navigationdrawer:SfNavigationDrawer.ContentView>
</navigationdrawer:SfNavigationDrawer>
namespace NavigationDrawerGettingStarted;
public partial class NavigationDrawerPage : ContentPage
{
SfNavigationDrawer navigationDrawer;
public NavigationDrawerPage()
{
InitializeComponent();
Grid headerGrid = new Grid()
{
RowDefinitions =
{
new RowDefinition { Height = 120 },
new RowDefinition { Height = 40 },
},
BackgroundColor = Color.FromArgb("#6750A4"),
};
var image = new Image
{
Source = "user.png",
HeightRequest = 110,
Margin = new Thickness(0, 10, 0, 0),
BackgroundColor = Color.FromArgb("#6750A4"),
HorizontalOptions = LayoutOptions.Center,
VerticalOptions = LayoutOptions.Center
};
var headerlabel = new Label
{
Text = "James Pollock",
HorizontalTextAlignment = TextAlignment.Center,
HorizontalOptions = LayoutOptions.Center,
FontSize = 20,
TextColor = Colors.White
};
headerGrid.SetRow(image, 0);
headerGrid.SetRow(headerlabel, 1);
headerGrid.Children.Add(image);
headerGrid.Children.Add(headerlabel);
ListView listView = new ListView();
listView.ItemSelected += listView_ItemSelected;
List<string> list = new List<string>();
list.Add("Home");
list.Add("Profile");
list.Add("Inbox");
list.Add("Out box");
list.Add("Sent");
list.Add("Draft");
listView.ItemsSource = list;
navigationDrawer.DrawerSettings = new DrawerSettings()
{
DrawerHeaderView = headerGrid,
DrawerContentView = listView,
DrawerHeaderHeight = 160,
DrawerWidth = 250,
};
this.Content = navigationDrawer;
}
}
private void hamburgerButton_Clicked(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
navigationDrawer.ToggleDrawer();
}
private void listView_ItemSelected(object sender, SelectedItemChangedEventArgs e)
{
if (e.SelectedItem.ToString() == "Home")
contentLabel.Text = "Home";
else if (e.SelectedItem.ToString() == "Profile")
contentLabel.Text = "Profile";
else if (e.SelectedItem.ToString() == "Inbox")
contentLabel.Text = "Inbox";
else if (e.SelectedItem.ToString() == "Out box")
contentLabel.Text = "Out box";
else if (e.SelectedItem.ToString() == "Sent")
contentLabel.Text = "Sent";
else if (e.SelectedItem.ToString() == "Draft")
contentLabel.Text = "The folder is empty";
navigationDrawer.ToggleDrawer();
}
You can find the getting started sample from the GitHub
link.