WPF ListView Inactive Selection Color

Question

I'm creating a WPF application where several ListView selections are made in a row (similar to the iTunes browser). The problem is that the default inactive selection color is too light. (see below)

How can I change this color so my inactive listview looks like this? (see below)

Solution

Override the default SystemColor with a Style like so:

<Style TargetType="ListViewItem">
    <Style.Resources>
        <SolidColorBrush x:Key="{x:Static SystemColors.ControlBrushKey}" Color="{x:Static SystemColors.HighlightColor}"/>
    </Style.Resources>
</Style>

Answer 1

Changing SystemColors.ControlBrushKey did not work for me, I had to change SystemColors.InactiveSelectionHighlightBrushKey

So instead of:

<SolidColorBrush x:Key="{x:Static SystemColors.ControlBrushKey}" Color="Red" />

I had to use:

<SolidColorBrush x:Key="{x:Static SystemColors.InactiveSelectionHighlightBrushKey}" Color="Red"/>

Answer 2

The ListBox template uses a system color called ControlBrush to set the inactive highlight color. Therefore, you can just override that color:

<ListBox>
    <ListBox.Resources>
        <SolidColorBrush x:Key="{x:Static SystemColors.ControlBrushKey}">Red</SolidColorBrush>
    </ListBox.Resources>
</ListBox>

Answer 3

The answer will in some cases solve the problem, but is not ideal as it breaks when the control is disabled/readonly and it also overrides the color schemes, rather than taking advantage of them. My suggestion is to add the following in the ListBox tags instead:

<ListBox....>
    <ListBox.Resources>
            <Style TargetType="ListBoxItem">
                <Setter Property="Template">
                    <Setter.Value>
                        <ControlTemplate TargetType="ListBoxItem">
                            <Border Name="Border" Padding="2" SnapsToDevicePixels="true">
                                <ContentPresenter />
                            </Border>
                            <ControlTemplate.Triggers>
                                <Trigger Property="IsSelected" Value="true">
                                    <Setter TargetName="Border" Property="Background"
                                            Value="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.HighlightBrushKey}}"/>
                                </Trigger>
                            </ControlTemplate.Triggers>
                        </ControlTemplate>
                    </Setter.Value>
                </Setter>
        </Style>
    </ListBox.Resources>
</ListBox>

What this will do is set the Highlight background color on the list box item whenever it is selected (regardless of the control state).

My answer is based on help from the answer already given, along with the following blog: http://blogs.vbcity.com/xtab/archive/2009/06/29/9344.aspx

Answer 4

You have to override some properties of SystemColors. Take a look at SystemColors Class (MSDN). There are more properties than InactiveSelectionHighlightBrushKey, e.g. InactiveSelectionHighlightTextBrushKey which affects the color of text.

<Window x:Class="WpfApplication1.MainWindow"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">
    <Window.Resources>
        <SolidColorBrush x:Key="{x:Static SystemColors.HighlightBrushKey}" Color="Red"/>
        <SolidColorBrush x:Key="{x:Static SystemColors.HighlightTextBrushKey}" Color="White"/>
        <SolidColorBrush x:Key="{x:Static SystemColors.InactiveSelectionHighlightBrushKey}" Color="Yellow"/>
        <SolidColorBrush x:Key="{x:Static SystemColors.InactiveSelectionHighlightTextBrushKey}" Color="Blue"/>
        <Style TargetType="ListViewItem">
            <Setter Property="FontSize" Value="20" />
            <Setter Property="FontWeight" Value="Bold" />
            <Setter Property="Padding" Value="25,5" />
        </Style>
    </Window.Resources>
    <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
        <ListView>
            <ListViewItem Content="Item" />
            <ListViewItem Content="Item" />
        </ListView>
        <ListView>
            <ListViewItem Content="Item" />
            <ListViewItem Content="Item" />
        </ListView>
    </StackPanel>
</Window>

Answer 5

In older .NET Frameworks overriding system colors does't work. Solution that works in .NET Framework 4.0 is here.

<ListView>
<ListView.Resources>
<Style TargetType="{x:Type ListViewItem}">
    <Setter Property="Template">
        <Setter.Value>
            <ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type ListViewItem}">
                <Border x:Name="Bd"
                        BorderBrush="{TemplateBinding BorderBrush}"
                        BorderThickness="{TemplateBinding BorderThickness}"
                        Background="{TemplateBinding Background}"
                        Padding="{TemplateBinding Padding}"
                        SnapsToDevicePixels="true">
                    <ContentPresenter HorizontalAlignment="{TemplateBinding HorizontalContentAlignment}"
                                        SnapsToDevicePixels="{TemplateBinding SnapsToDevicePixels}"
                                        VerticalAlignment="{TemplateBinding VerticalContentAlignment}" />
                </Border>
                <ControlTemplate.Triggers>
                    <MultiTrigger>
                        <MultiTrigger.Conditions>
                            <Condition Property="Selector.IsSelectionActive"
                                        Value="False" />
                            <Condition Property="IsSelected"
                                        Value="True" />
                        </MultiTrigger.Conditions>
                        <Setter Property="Background"
                                TargetName="Bd"
                                Value="DarkOrange" />
                    </MultiTrigger>
                    <MultiTrigger>
                        <MultiTrigger.Conditions>
                            <Condition Property="Selector.IsSelectionActive"
                                        Value="True" />
                            <Condition Property="IsSelected"
                                        Value="True" />
                        </MultiTrigger.Conditions>
                        <Setter Property="Background"
                                TargetName="Bd"
                                Value="OrangeRed" />
                    </MultiTrigger>
                </ControlTemplate.Triggers>
            </ControlTemplate>
        </Setter.Value>
    </Setter>
</Style>

Works both for ListBox and ListView.

Answer 6

Based on this other answer I used the following to make the active & inactive colors the same without hardcoding the actual value:

<ListBox.Resources>
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="{x:Static SystemColors.InactiveSelectionHighlightBrushKey}" 
                     Color="{x:Static SystemColors.HighlightColor}"/>
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="{x:Static SystemColors.InactiveSelectionHighlightTextBrushKey}"
                     Color="{x:Static SystemColors.HighlightTextColor}"/>
</ListBox.Resources>

Having the same colors for both active & inactive may not be ideal, but the default colors were so faint it was hard to tell which item was selected when it was inactive; this is a definite improvement.

Answer 7

For me this did the trick:

 <ListBox HorizontalContentAlignment="Stretch">
                <ListBox.ItemTemplate>
                    <DataTemplate>
                        <Label  Margin="-5, -2,-5,-2" Content="{Binding Item}">
                            <Label.Style>
                                <Style TargetType="Label">
                                    <Style.Triggers>
                                        <MultiDataTrigger>
                                            <MultiDataTrigger.Conditions>
                                                <Condition Binding="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Mode=FindAncestor,AncestorType={x:Type ListBox}},Path=IsFocused}" Value="False"/>
                                                <Condition Binding="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Mode=FindAncestor,AncestorType={x:Type ListBoxItem}},Path=IsSelected}" Value="True"/>
                                            </MultiDataTrigger.Conditions>
                                            <Setter Property="Background" Value="CornflowerBlue"/>
                                        </MultiDataTrigger>
                                        <DataTrigger Binding="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Mode=FindAncestor,AncestorType={x:Type ListBoxItem}},Path=IsSelected}" Value="True">
                                            <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="White"/>
                                        </DataTrigger>
                                        <DataTrigger Binding="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Mode=FindAncestor,AncestorType={x:Type ListBoxItem}},Path=IsSelected}" Value="False">
                                            <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="Black"/>
                                        </DataTrigger>
                                    </Style.Triggers>
                                </Style>
                            </Label.Style>
                        </Label>
                    </DataTemplate>
                </ListBox.ItemTemplate>
            </ListBox>