Text Alignment Helpers (ITextAlignment)

July 14, 2026 · View on GitHub

Every control implementing ITextAlignment — Label, Entry, Editor, SearchBar, Picker, TimePicker, DatePicker, EntryCell, and any third-party control implementing the interface — receives a family of extension methods that set HorizontalTextAlignment and VerticalTextAlignment in one call.

These generated methods require the control to expose both text-alignment bindable properties; the source generator emits them only when both exist.

Quick Example

new Label().Text("Centered").TextCenter()

Centers the text both horizontally and vertically within the control's own bounds.

Method Reference

Single axis

Method	Sets
`TextCenterHorizontal()`	`HorizontalTextAlignment = Center`
`TextCenterVertical()`	`VerticalTextAlignment = Center`
`TextLeft()`	`HorizontalTextAlignment = Start`
`TextRight()`	`HorizontalTextAlignment = End`
`TextTop()`	`VerticalTextAlignment = Start`
`TextBottom()`	`VerticalTextAlignment = End`

Both axes

Method	Vertical	Horizontal
`TextCenter()`	Center	Center
`TextTopLeft()`	Start	Start
`TextTopCenter()`	Start	Center
`TextTopRight()`	Start	End
`TextCenterLeft()`	Center	Start
`TextCenterRight()`	Center	End
`TextBottomLeft()`	End	Start
`TextBottomCenter()`	End	Center
`TextBottomRight()`	End	End

General form

new Label().AlignText(vertical: TextAlignment.End, horizontal: TextAlignment.Center)

Text Alignment vs. Layout Options

A frequent point of confusion:

TextCenter() aligns the text inside the control's box.
Center() aligns the control inside its parent (Layout Options).

If a Label is sized to its content, TextCenter() appears to do nothing — the box is exactly as big as the text. Give the control space, then align:

// A full-width header with centered text
new Label()
    .Text("Dashboard")
    .FontSize(24)
    .FillHorizontal()   // control takes the full row
    .TextCenter()       // text centered inside it
    .HeightRequest(56)

Practical Examples

Numeric entry, right-aligned like a calculator:

new Entry()
    .Keyboard(Keyboard.Numeric)
    .Placeholder("0.00")
    .TextRight()

Table-style rows:

new Grid()
.ColumnDefinitions(e => e.Star(6).Star(2).Star(2))
.Children(
    new Label().Text("Product"),
    new Label().Text("Qty").Column(1).TextCenter(),
    new Label().Text("Price").Column(2).TextRight()
)

Vertically centered label in a fixed-height bar:

new Label()
    .Text("Status: online")
    .HeightRequest(44)
    .TextCenterVertical()