Text Alignment Helpers (ITextAlignment)

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()