CollectionView — .NET MAUI

CollectionView

is the primary control for displaying scrollable lists and grids of data in .NET MAUI. It replaces

ListView

with better performance, flexible layouts, and no

ViewCell

requirement.

When to Use

Displaying a scrollable list or grid of data items
Binding a collection of objects to a templated item layout
Adding selection (single or multiple), grouping, or pull-to-refresh
Implementing infinite scroll / incremental loading
Showing swipe actions on list items
Displaying an empty state when no data is available

When Not to Use

Static layouts with a fixed number of items — use
```
Grid
```
or
```
StackLayout
```
directly
Map pin lists — use the
```
Microsoft.Maui.Controls.Maps
```
NuGet package
Table-based data entry forms — use standard form controls
Simple text-only lists with no interaction — consider
```
BindableLayout
```
on a
```
StackLayout
```

Inputs

A data source (typically
```
ObservableCollection<T>
```
) bound to
```
ItemsSource
```
A
```
DataTemplate
```
defining how each item renders
Optional: layout configuration, selection mode, grouping model, empty view

Basic Setup

xml

<CollectionView ItemsSource="{Binding Items}">
    <CollectionView.ItemTemplate>
        <DataTemplate x:DataType="models:Item">
            <HorizontalStackLayout Padding="8" Spacing="8">
                <Image Source="{Binding Icon}" WidthRequest="40" HeightRequest="40" />
                <Label Text="{Binding Name}" VerticalOptions="Center" />
            </HorizontalStackLayout>
        </DataTemplate>
    </CollectionView.ItemTemplate>
</CollectionView>

Key rules:

Bind
```
ItemsSource
```
to an
```
ObservableCollection<T>
```
so the UI updates on add/remove.
Each item template root must be a
```
Layout
```
or
```
View
```
— never use
ViewCell
.
Always set
```
x:DataType
```
on
```
DataTemplate
```
for compiled bindings.

Layouts

Set

ItemsLayout

to control arrangement. Default is

VerticalList

Layout	XAML value
Vertical list	`VerticalList` (default)
Horizontal list	`HorizontalList`
Vertical grid	`GridItemsLayout` with `Orientation="Vertical"`
Horizontal grid	`GridItemsLayout` with `Orientation="Horizontal"`

Grid Layout

xml

<CollectionView ItemsSource="{Binding Items}">
    <CollectionView.ItemsLayout>
        <GridItemsLayout Orientation="Vertical"
                         Span="2"
                         VerticalItemSpacing="8"
                         HorizontalItemSpacing="8" />
    </CollectionView.ItemsLayout>
    <CollectionView.ItemTemplate>
        <DataTemplate x:DataType="models:Item">
            <Border Padding="8" StrokeThickness="0">
                <VerticalStackLayout>
                    <Image Source="{Binding Image}" HeightRequest="120" Aspect="AspectFill" />
                    <Label Text="{Binding Name}" FontAttributes="Bold" />
                </VerticalStackLayout>
            </Border>
        </DataTemplate>
    </CollectionView.ItemTemplate>
</CollectionView>

Horizontal List

xml

<CollectionView ItemsSource="{Binding Items}"
                ItemsLayout="HorizontalList" />

Selection

Selection Mode

Mode	Property to bind	Binding mode
`None`	—	—
`Single`	`SelectedItem`	`TwoWay`
`Multiple`	`SelectedItems`	`OneWay`

xml

<CollectionView ItemsSource="{Binding Items}"
                SelectionMode="Single"
                SelectedItem="{Binding CurrentItem, Mode=TwoWay}"
                SelectionChangedCommand="{Binding ItemSelectedCommand}" />

For

Multiple

selection, bind

SelectedItems

(type

IList<object>

xml

<CollectionView SelectionMode="Multiple"
                SelectedItems="{Binding ChosenItems, Mode=OneWay}" />

Selected Visual State

Highlight selected items using

VisualStateManager

xml

<CollectionView.ItemTemplate>
    <DataTemplate x:DataType="models:Item">
        <Grid Padding="8">
            <VisualStateManager.VisualStateGroups>
                <VisualStateGroup Name="CommonStates">
                    <VisualState Name="Normal">
                        <VisualState.Setters>
                            <Setter Property="BackgroundColor" Value="Transparent" />
                        </VisualState.Setters>
                    </VisualState>
                    <VisualState Name="Selected">
                        <VisualState.Setters>
                            <Setter Property="BackgroundColor"
                                    Value="{AppThemeBinding Light={StaticResource Primary}, Dark={StaticResource PrimaryDark}}" />
                        </VisualState.Setters>
                    </VisualState>
                </VisualStateGroup>
            </VisualStateManager.VisualStateGroups>
            <Label Text="{Binding Name}" />
        </Grid>
    </DataTemplate>
</CollectionView.ItemTemplate>

Grouping

Create a group class inheriting from
```
List<T>
```
:

csharp

public class AnimalGroup : List<Animal>
{
    public string Name { get; }
    public AnimalGroup(string name, List<Animal> animals) : base(animals)
    {
        Name = name;
    }
}

Bind to

ObservableCollection<AnimalGroup>

and set

IsGrouped="True"

xml

<CollectionView ItemsSource="{Binding AnimalGroups}"
                IsGrouped="True">
    <CollectionView.GroupHeaderTemplate>
        <DataTemplate x:DataType="models:AnimalGroup">
            <Label Text="{Binding Name}"
                   FontAttributes="Bold"
                   BackgroundColor="{StaticResource Gray100}"
                   Padding="8" />
        </DataTemplate>
    </CollectionView.GroupHeaderTemplate>
    <CollectionView.ItemTemplate>
        <DataTemplate x:DataType="models:Animal">
            <Label Text="{Binding Name}" Padding="16,4" />
        </DataTemplate>
    </CollectionView.ItemTemplate>
</CollectionView>

Pull-to-Refresh

Wrap

CollectionView

in a

RefreshView

. Set

IsRefreshing

back to

false

when done:

xml

<RefreshView IsRefreshing="{Binding IsRefreshing}"
             Command="{Binding RefreshCommand}">
    <CollectionView ItemsSource="{Binding Items}" />
</RefreshView>

Incremental Loading (Infinite Scroll)

xml

<CollectionView ItemsSource="{Binding Items}"
                RemainingItemsThreshold="5"
                RemainingItemsThresholdReachedCommand="{Binding LoadMoreCommand}" />

⚠️ Do NOT use with non-virtualizing layouts.
LinearItemsLayout
and
GridItemsLayout
support virtualization. Using
BindableLayout
on a
StackLayout
as an alternative to
CollectionView
has no virtualization, which triggers infinite threshold-reached events.

SwipeView — Binding from Inside DataTemplate

Commands inside a

DataTemplate

can't directly reach your ViewModel. Use

RelativeSource AncestorType

xml

<CollectionView.ItemTemplate>
    <DataTemplate x:DataType="models:Item">
        <SwipeView>
            <SwipeView.RightItems>
                <SwipeItems>
                    <SwipeItem Text="Delete"
                               BackgroundColor="Red"
                               Command="{Binding BindingContext.DeleteCommand, Source={RelativeSource AncestorType={x:Type ContentPage}}}"
                               CommandParameter="{Binding}" />
                </SwipeItems>
            </SwipeView.RightItems>
            <Grid Padding="8">
                <Label Text="{Binding Name}" />
            </Grid>
        </SwipeView>
    </DataTemplate>
</CollectionView.ItemTemplate>

EmptyView

Shown when

ItemsSource

is empty or null.

xml

<CollectionView ItemsSource="{Binding SearchResults}"
                EmptyView="No items found." />

For a custom empty view, wrap in

ContentView

xml

<CollectionView ItemsSource="{Binding SearchResults}">
    <CollectionView.EmptyView>
        <ContentView>
            <VerticalStackLayout HorizontalOptions="Center" VerticalOptions="Center">
                <Image Source="empty_state.png" WidthRequest="120" />
                <Label Text="Nothing here yet" HorizontalTextAlignment="Center" />
            </VerticalStackLayout>
        </ContentView>
    </CollectionView.EmptyView>
</CollectionView>

Headers and Footers

xml

<CollectionView ItemsSource="{Binding Items}">
    <CollectionView.Header>
        <Label Text="Header" FontAttributes="Bold" Padding="8" />
    </CollectionView.Header>
    <CollectionView.Footer>
        <Label Text="Footer" FontAttributes="Italic" Padding="8" />
    </CollectionView.Footer>
</CollectionView>

Use

HeaderTemplate

FooterTemplate

when headers or footers are data-bound.

Scrolling

ScrollTo

Programmatically scroll by index or item:

csharp

// Scroll to index
collectionView.ScrollTo(index: 10, position: ScrollToPosition.Center, animate: true);

// Scroll to item
collectionView.ScrollTo(item: myItem, position: ScrollToPosition.MakeVisible, animate: true);

ScrollToPosition	Behavior
`MakeVisible`	Scrolls just enough to make the item visible
`Start`	Scrolls item to the start of the viewport
`Center`	Scrolls item to the center of the viewport
`End`	Scrolls item to the end of the viewport

Snap Points

xml

<CollectionView.ItemsLayout>
    <LinearItemsLayout Orientation="Horizontal"
                       SnapPointsType="MandatorySingle"
                       SnapPointsAlignment="Center" />
</CollectionView.ItemsLayout>

SnapPointsType

None

Mandatory

MandatorySingle

```
SnapPointsAlignment
```
:
```
Start
```
,
```
Center
```
,
```
End
```

Performance Tips

Use
MeasureFirstItem
for uniform item sizes — significantly faster than

MeasureAllItems

xml

<LinearItemsLayout Orientation="Vertical" ItemSizingStrategy="MeasureFirstItem" />

Always use
ObservableCollection<T>
, not
```
List<T>
```
. Swapping a
```
List
```
forces a full re-render.

Update collections on the UI thread —

MainThread.BeginInvokeOnMainThread(() => Items.Add(item))

Common Pitfalls

Issue	Fix
UI doesn't update when items change	Use `ObservableCollection<T>` , not `List<T>` .
App crashes or blank items	Never use `ViewCell` — use `Grid` , `StackLayout` , or any `View` as template root.
Items disappear or layout breaks	Always update `ItemsSource` and the collection on the UI thread ( `MainThread.BeginInvokeOnMainThread` ).
Incremental loading fires endlessly	Don't use `StackLayout` as layout; use `LinearItemsLayout` or `GridItemsLayout` .
EmptyView doesn't render correctly	Wrap custom empty views in `ContentView` .
Poor scroll performance	Use `MeasureFirstItem` sizing strategy for uniform item sizes.
Selected state not visible	Add `VisualState Name="Selected"` to the item template root element.
Binding errors in SwipeView commands	Use `RelativeSource AncestorType` to reach the ViewModel from inside the item template.
Using ListView instead of CollectionView	`CollectionView` replaces `ListView` — it has better performance, no `ViewCell` , and flexible layouts.

maui-collectionview

NPX Install

Tags

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