SwiftUI: How to Tap to Select All Text in a TextField on iOS

Last Update: September 19, 2023

When working with iOS SwiftUI app development, you might encounter a common user interface requirement: the need to select or highlight all text within a `TextField`` when a user taps inside it. This behavior is similar to what you see in web browsers like Safari when you click inside the address bar. In this tutorial, we’ll explore how to achieve this functionality in your iOS app using Swift and SwiftUI.

Problem

You have a TextField in your iOS app, and you want to automatically select all the text inside it when a user taps on it.

Solution

We can accomplish this task by listening to the UITextField.textDidBeginEditingNotification event and then using relevant UITextField APIs to select all the text. There are two approaches to achieve this:

Approach 1: Using textField.selectAll()

In this approach, we’ll call the selectAll() method on the UITextField to select all the text when the text field begins editing. Here’s how you can implement it:

import SwiftUI
import Combine

TextField("Search key words...", text: $keywords)
    .padding()
    .onReceive(NotificationCenter.default.publisher(for: UITextField.textDidBeginEditingNotification)) { obj in
        // Click to select all the text.
        if let textField = obj.object as? UITextField {
            textField.selectAll(nil)
        }
    }

With this code, when the user taps inside the text field, all the text will be automatically selected.

Approach 2: Using textField.selectedTextRange

In this approach, we’ll set the selectedTextRange property of the UITextField to select all the text. Here’s how you can implement it:

import SwiftUI
import Combine

TextField("Search key words...", text: $keywords)
    .padding()
    .onReceive(NotificationCenter.default.publisher(for: UITextField.textDidBeginEditingNotification)) { obj in
        // Click to select all the text.
        if let textField = obj.object as? UITextField {
            textField.selectedTextRange = textField.textRange(from: textField.beginningOfDocument, to: textField.endOfDocument)
        }
    }

In this code, it will have the same effect as the first approach, selecting all the text when the text field begins editing.

Conclusion

Selecting all text in a TextField`` when a user taps inside it is a common user interface requirement in iOS app development. By using the UITextField.textDidBeginEditingNotification` event and appropriate UITextField APIs, you can easily achieve this functionality and provide a seamless user experience in your iOS app.

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