Adjust UILabel height to text

Question

I have some labels which I want to adjust their height to the text, this is the code I wrote for this now

func heightForView(text:String, font:UIFont, width:CGFloat) -> CGFloat{
    let label:UILabel = UILabel(frame: CGRectMake(0, 0, width, CGFloat.max))
    label.numberOfLines = 0
    label.lineBreakMode = NSLineBreakMode.ByWordWrapping
    label.font = font
    label.text = text

    label.sizeToFit()
    return label.frame.height
}

EDIT:

The issue was not in this piece of code, so my fix is in the question itself. It might still be useful for others!

Take a look at NSString UIKit additions, there are methods there to calculate the size as you need without creating a UILabel. — Vladimir Gritsenko
– Vladimir Gritsenko, Commented Aug 7, 2014 at 10:50
@VladimirGritsenko the 'sizeWithFont' methods are unavailable in Swift :( — TheBurgerShot
– TheBurgerShot, Commented Aug 7, 2014 at 13:14
I admit I'm not an expert on Swift, but I believe you can add your own bridging methods. Would still be worth it over creating UILabel to calculate size. — Vladimir Gritsenko
– Vladimir Gritsenko, Commented Aug 7, 2014 at 14:52
@TheBurgerShot sizeWithFont may not be available for Swift String but it is available on NSString You should still be able to call it on that. — Anorak
– Anorak, Commented Aug 7, 2014 at 16:36
In the end, the error was something different and had nothing to do with this method. Though this might still be helpful for others. — TheBurgerShot
– TheBurgerShot, Commented Jan 26, 2015 at 11:44

Community · Accepted Answer · 2018-06-28 20:00:07Z

215

I've just put this in a playground and it works for me.

Updated for Swift 4.0

import UIKit

 func heightForView(text:String, font:UIFont, width:CGFloat) -> CGFloat{
    let label:UILabel = UILabel(frame: CGRectMake(0, 0, width, CGFloat.greatestFiniteMagnitude))
    label.numberOfLines = 0
    label.lineBreakMode = NSLineBreakMode.byWordWrapping
    label.font = font
    label.text = text

    label.sizeToFit()
    return label.frame.height
}

let font = UIFont(name: "Helvetica", size: 20.0)

var height = heightForView("This is just a load of text", font: font, width: 100.0)

Swift 3:

func heightForView(text:String, font:UIFont, width:CGFloat) -> CGFloat{
    let label:UILabel = UILabel(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: width, height: CGFloat.greatestFiniteMagnitude))
    label.numberOfLines = 0
    label.lineBreakMode = NSLineBreakMode.byWordWrapping
    label.font = font
    label.text = text
    label.sizeToFit()

    return label.frame.height
}

enter image description here

edited Jun 28, 2018 at 20:00

CommunityBot

11 silver badge

answered Aug 7, 2014 at 16:43

Anorak

3,1161 gold badge16 silver badges11 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

7 Comments

TheBurgerShot Over a year ago

this works fine for mee too in playground, the error does not seem to occur at this specific place, when i remove the usages of this method it is gonna whine about some println's or just a line with only comments (then it says EXC_BAD_ACCESS code=2 as well)

Unome Over a year ago

It works in a playground, but no sizing occurs as desired inside of a view controller in XCode 6.1

Zorayr Over a year ago

I am a little hesitant to create a new UILabel per sizing; if this method is used inside layoutSubviews with the tendency to be invoked multiple times per complete layout, the extra object creation may introduce noticeable delays, especially during scrolling.

Siddharth Pancholi Over a year ago

let textRect = textString.boundingRectWithSize(CGSizeMake(320, 2000), options: .UsesLineFragmentOrigin, attributes: textAttributes, context: nil)

Rouny Over a year ago

I am unable to call this function in my view controller...Can you suggest me what could be the possible reason?

|

Linh · Accepted Answer · 2016-06-13 07:16:23Z

69

If you are using AutoLayout, you can adjust UILabel height by config UI only.

For iOS8 or above

Set constraint leading/trailing for your UILabel
And change the lines of UILabel from 1 to 0

For iOS7

First, you need to add contains height for UILabel
Then, modify the Relation from Equal to Greater than or Equal

Finally, change the lines of UILabel from 1 to 0

Your UILabel will automatically increase height depending on the text

edited Jun 13, 2016 at 7:16

answered Dec 23, 2015 at 7:08

Linh

61.3k25 gold badges274 silver badges298 bronze badges

5 Comments

oyalhi Over a year ago

And if the label is inside a cell. When and how would you increase the cell height accordingly?

Linh Over a year ago

@oyalhi, if your label is inside a tableview cell, please see my other post stackoverflow.com/a/36277840/5381331

Bill Thompson Over a year ago

This worked perfectly for me! Setup the constraints, and it will work properly!

gadget00 Over a year ago

not working for me...the word "Label" in a UILabel makes height=20. It remains 20 after this setting.

John Pitts Over a year ago

No idea what "add contains height for UILabel" means, and there is no "Height Constraint" section in UIBuilder with First Item (pictured)??

Naresh · Accepted Answer · 2018-08-23 13:15:11Z

In swift 4.1 and Xcode 9.4.1

Only 3 steps

Step 1)

//To calculate height for label based on text size and width
func heightForView(text:String, font:UIFont, width:CGFloat) -> CGFloat {
    let label:UILabel = UILabel(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: width, height: CGFloat.greatestFiniteMagnitude))
    label.numberOfLines = 0
    label.lineBreakMode = NSLineBreakMode.byWordWrapping
    label.font = font
    label.text = text

    label.sizeToFit()
    return label.frame.height
}

Step 2)

//Call this function
let height = heightForView(text: "This is your text", font: UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 17), width: 300)
print(height)//Output : 41.0

Step 3)

//This is your label
let proNameLbl = UILabel(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 20, width: 300, height: height))
proNameLbl.text = "This is your text"
proNameLbl.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 17)
proNameLbl.numberOfLines = 0
proNameLbl.lineBreakMode = .byWordWrapping
infoView.addSubview(proNameLbl)

dimpiax · Accepted Answer · 2021-11-24 16:17:22Z

11

I have the strong working solution.

in layoutSubviews:

title.frame = CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: bounds.width, height: 0)
title.sizeToFit()
title.frame.size = title.bounds.size

in text setter:

title.text = newValue
setNeedsLayout()

UPD. of course with this UILabel settings:

title.lineBreakMode = .byWordWrapping
title.numberOfLines = 0

edited Nov 24, 2021 at 16:17

answered Jan 1, 2015 at 15:16

dimpiax

12.7k5 gold badges68 silver badges48 bronze badges

Comments

YanSte · Accepted Answer · 2015-01-17 19:12:26Z

10

I create this extension if you want

extension UILabel {
    func setSizeFont (sizeFont: CGFloat) {
        self.font =  UIFont(name: self.font.fontName, size: sizeFont)!
        self.sizeToFit()
    }
}

answered Jan 17, 2015 at 19:12

YanSte

10.9k3 gold badges60 silver badges54 bronze badges

Comments

LeftyT · Accepted Answer · 2016-09-06 16:12:39Z

based on Anorak's answer, I also agree with Zorayr's concern, so I added a couple of lines to remove the UILabel and return only the CGFloat, I don't know if it helps since the original code doesn't add the UIabel, but it doesn't throw error, so I'm using the code below:

func heightForView(text:String, font:UIFont, width:CGFloat) -> CGFloat{

    var currHeight:CGFloat!

    let label:UILabel = UILabel(frame: CGRectMake(0, 0, width, CGFloat.max))
    label.numberOfLines = 0
    label.lineBreakMode = NSLineBreakMode.ByWordWrapping
    label.font = font
    label.text = text
    label.sizeToFit()

    currHeight = label.frame.height
    label.removeFromSuperview()

    return currHeight
}

Jordan Amman · Accepted Answer · 2015-01-07 13:11:21Z

6

Just by setting:

label.numberOfLines = 0

The label automatically adjusts its height based upon the amount of text entered.

answered Jan 7, 2015 at 13:11

Jordan Amman

1111 silver badge5 bronze badges

1 Comment

TheBurgerShot Over a year ago

This does not make the UILabel to adjust it's height.

Philipp Otto · Accepted Answer · 2019-09-18 11:23:17Z

6

The solution suggested by Anorak as a computed property in an extension for UILabel:

extension UILabel
{
var optimalHeight : CGFloat
    {
        get
        {
            let label = UILabel(frame: CGRectMake(0, 0, self.frame.width, CGFloat.max))
            label.numberOfLines = 0
            label.lineBreakMode = self.lineBreakMode
            label.font = self.font
            label.text = self.text

            label.sizeToFit()

            return label.frame.height
         }
    }
}

Usage:

self.brandModelLabel.frame.size.height = self.brandModelLabel.optimalHeight

edited Sep 18, 2019 at 11:23

answered Sep 22, 2015 at 12:25

Philipp Otto

4,1112 gold badges35 silver badges50 bronze badges

1 Comment

Amg91 Over a year ago

Cannot assign to property: 'height' is a get-only property.

Lirik · Accepted Answer · 2015-10-29 10:55:19Z

Following on @Anorak answer, i added this extension to String and sent an inset as a parameter, because a lot of times you will need a padding to your text. Anyway, maybe some you will find this usefull.

extension String {

    func heightForWithFont(font: UIFont, width: CGFloat, insets: UIEdgeInsets) -> CGFloat {

        let label:UILabel = UILabel(frame: CGRectMake(0, 0, width + insets.left + insets.right, CGFloat.max))
        label.numberOfLines = 0
        label.lineBreakMode = NSLineBreakMode.ByWordWrapping
        label.font = font
        label.text = self

        label.sizeToFit()
        return label.frame.height + insets.top + insets.bottom
    }
}

label.lineBreakMode = NSLineBreakMode.ByWordWrapping this line helped me thanks.

Collin · Accepted Answer · 2015-09-25 17:21:02Z

Here is how to calculate the text height in Swift. You can then get the height from the rect and set the constraint height of the label or textView, etc.

let font = UIFont(name: "HelveticaNeue", size: 25)!
let text = "This is some really long text just to test how it works for calculating heights in swift of string sizes. What if I add a couple lines of text?"

let textString = text as NSString

let textAttributes = [NSFontAttributeName: font]

let textRect = textString.boundingRectWithSize(CGSizeMake(320, 2000), options: .UsesLineFragmentOrigin, attributes: textAttributes, context: nil)

Shubham bairagi · Accepted Answer · 2015-11-23 05:05:29Z

just call this method where you need dynamic Height for label

func getHeightforController(view: AnyObject) -> CGFloat {
    let tempView: UILabel = view as! UILabel
    var context: NSStringDrawingContext = NSStringDrawingContext()
    context.minimumScaleFactor = 0.8

    var width: CGFloat = tempView.frame.size.width

    width = ((UIScreen.mainScreen().bounds.width)/320)*width

    let size: CGSize = tempView.text!.boundingRectWithSize(CGSizeMake(width, 2000), options:NSStringDrawingOptions.UsesLineFragmentOrigin, attributes: [NSFontAttributeName: tempView.font], context: context).size as CGSize

    return size.height
}

7ur7l3 · Accepted Answer · 2017-12-21 11:27:30Z

Swift 4.0

self.messageLabel = UILabel(frame: CGRect(x: 70, y: 60, width:UIScreen.main.bounds.width - 80, height: 30)

messageLabel.text = message

messageLabel.lineBreakMode = .byWordWrapping //in versions below swift 3 (messageLabel.lineBreakMode = NSLineBreakMode.ByWordWrapping)    
messageLabel.numberOfLines = 0 //To write any number of lines within a label scope

messageLabel.textAlignment = .center

messageLabel.textColor = UIColor.white

messageLabel.font = messageLabel.font.withSize(12)

messageLabel.sizeToFit()

Blockquote NSParagraphStyle.LineBreakMode, apply to entire paragraphs, not words within paragraphs.This property is in effect both during normal drawing and in cases where the font size must be reduced to fit the label’s text in its bounding box. This property is set to byTruncatingTail by default.

This link describes the storyboard way of doing the same

Code-only answers are not considered good practice. Please consider adding some explanations on how your answer addresses the question.

Patrick J. · Accepted Answer · 2018-02-25 12:41:53Z

Swift 4.0

Instead of calculating the text/label height, I just resize the label after inserting the (dynamic) text.

Assuming that myLabel is the UILabel in question:

let myLabel = UILabel(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: *somewidth*, height: *placeholder, e.g. 20*))
myLabel.numberOfLines = 0
myLabel.lineBreakMode = .byWordWrapping
...

And now comes the fun part:

var myLabelText: String = "" {
   didSet {
      myLabel.text = myLabelText
      myLabel.sizeToFit()
   }
}

user7718859 · Accepted Answer · 2018-05-30 16:01:31Z

The Swift 4.1 extension method to calculate label height:

extension UILabel {

    func heightForLabel(text:String, font:UIFont, width:CGFloat) -> CGFloat {
        let label:UILabel = UILabel(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: width, height: CGFloat.greatestFiniteMagnitude))
        label.numberOfLines = 0
        label.lineBreakMode = NSLineBreakMode.byWordWrapping
        label.font = font
        label.text = text

        label.sizeToFit()
        return label.frame.height
    }

}

Egzon P. · Accepted Answer · 2019-11-04 14:39:09Z

Swift 5, XCode 11 storyboard way. I think this works for iOS 9 and higher. You want for example "Description" label to get the dynamic height, follow the steps:

1) Select description label -> Go to Attributes Inspector (pencil icon), set: Lines: 0 Line Break: Word Wrap

2) Select your UILabel from storyboard and go to Size Inspector (ruler icon), 3) Go down to "Content Compression Resistance Priority to 1 for all other UIView (lables, buttons, imageview, etc) components that are interacting with your label.

For example, I have UIImageView, Title Label, and Description Label vertically in my view. I set Content Compression Resistance Priority to UIImageView and title label to 1 and for description label to 750. This will make a description label to take as much as needed height.

Fitsyu · Accepted Answer · 2020-05-28 09:58:50Z

1

You can also use sizeThatFits function.

For example:

label.sizeThatFits(superView.frame.size).height

answered May 28, 2020 at 9:58

Fitsyu

91012 silver badges19 bronze badges

Comments

Ranjeet Raushan · Accepted Answer · 2019-07-12 11:26:41Z

0

To make label dynamic in swift , don't give height constarint and in storyboard make label number of lines 0 also give bottom constraint and this is the best way i am handling dynamic label as per their content size .

edited Jul 12, 2019 at 11:26

answered Jul 12, 2019 at 11:21

Ranjeet Raushan

115 bronze badges

Comments

Ronaldo Albertini · Accepted Answer · 2023-03-06 17:24:12Z

0

If you have a dynamic text on the UILabel, and the height changes all the time (and nothing works), one alternative is putting the label inside a UIStackView

answered Mar 6, 2023 at 17:24

Ronaldo Albertini

1,85925 silver badges26 bronze badges

1 Comment

HangarRash Over a year ago

Why would you put a single label in a stack view? What issue does that solve that appropriate constraints on the label don't solve?

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Adjust UILabel height to text

18 Answers 18

7 Comments

5 Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

1 Comment

1 Comment

1 Comment

Comments

Comments

1 Comment

Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

1 Comment

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

18 Answers 18

7 Comments

5 Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

1 Comment

1 Comment

1 Comment

Comments

Comments

1 Comment

Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

1 Comment

Linked

Related