Android action bar not showing overflow

Android Problem Overview

I have an action bar in my app with 3 items.

Only 2 can be displayed due to space issues, so I'd expect the first to be displayed and the rest to be displayed in the overflow. However in practice only the first 2 items are shown and there is no overflow detectable.

Here is the relevant code: list_menu.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
<item android:id="@+id/menu_insert"
    android:icon="@android:drawable/ic_menu_add"
    android:title="@string/menu_insert" 
    android:showAsAction="ifRoom|withText"/>
<item android:id="@+id/menu_call"
    android:icon="@android:drawable/ic_menu_call"
    android:title="@string/menu_call" 
    android:showAsAction="ifRoom|withText"/>
<item android:id="@+id/menu_agenda"
    android:icon="@android:drawable/ic_menu_agenda"
    android:title="@string/menu_agenda" 
    android:showAsAction="ifRoom|withText"/>
</menu>

Activity.java

public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
	MenuInflater mi = getMenuInflater();
	mi.inflate(R.menu.list_menu, menu);
    return true;
}

Android Solutions

Solution 1 - Android

If you want to show the three dots, irrespective of device menu button! then you can call this method in your application class' onCreate method-

private void makeActionOverflowMenuShown() {
	//devices with hardware menu button (e.g. Samsung Note) don't show action overflow menu
	try {
		ViewConfiguration config = ViewConfiguration.get(this);
		Field menuKeyField = ViewConfiguration.class.getDeclaredField("sHasPermanentMenuKey");
		if (menuKeyField != null) {
			menuKeyField.setAccessible(true);
			menuKeyField.setBoolean(config, false);
		}
	} catch (Exception e) {
		Log.d(TAG, e.getLocalizedMessage());
	}
}

Solution 2 - Android

Output

Action Bar

res/menu/menu.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >

    <!-- Search / will display always -->
    <item
        android:id="@+id/action_search"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_search"
        android:showAsAction="always"
        android:title="@string/action_search"/>

    <!-- Location Found -->
    <item
        android:id="@+id/action_location_found"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_location_found"
        android:showAsAction="always"
        android:title="@string/action_location_found"/>

    <!-- More -->
    <item
        android:id="@+id/a_More"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_overflow"
        android:showAsAction="always"
        android:title="More">
        <menu>

            <!-- Refresh -->
            <item
                android:id="@+id/action_refresh"
                android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_refresh"
                android:showAsAction="never"
                android:title="@string/action_refresh"/>

            <!-- Help -->
            <item
                android:id="@+id/action_help"
                android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_help"
                android:showAsAction="never"
                android:title="@string/action_help"/>

            <!-- Check updates -->
            <item
                android:id="@+id/action_check_updates"
                android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_refresh"
                android:showAsAction="never"
                android:title="@string/action_check_updates"/>
        </menu>
    </item>

</menu>

MainActivity.java

public class MainActivity extends Activity {

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
    }
  
    @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
        MenuInflater inflater = getMenuInflater();
        inflater.inflate(R.menu.menu, menu);
 
        return super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu);
    }

}

Download the Action Bar Icon Set

Solution 3 - Android

I realize this is not an overflow menu, but it is similar. Okay, this is simple but was hard to figure out.

You first need a menu item you want to use as the overflow inflater. Example

<item
        android:id="@+id/a_More"
        android:icon="@drawable/more"
        android:showAsAction="always"
        android:title="More">
        </item>

Once you have your item, add a sub-menu containing your items you want in the overflow menu. Example:

<item
    android:id="@+id/a_More"
    android:icon="@drawable/more"
    android:showAsAction="always"
    android:title="More">
    <menu>
        <item
            android:id="@+id/aM_Home"
            android:icon="@drawable/home"
            android:title="Home"/>
    </menu>
</item>

On click this will inflate other items within. My application is using ActionBarSherlock 4.0 so before this will work for you, you will need to access the "SplitActionBar". (Will still work on default android Actionbar)

Here's how: In your AndroidManifest.xml file, you need to add this code under the activity you need the overflow menu in.

android:uiOptions="splitActionBarWhenNarrow"

NOTE: Your item that inflates your overflow menu MUST showAsAction="always"

Vwola! you have an overflow menu! Hope I helped you out. :)

Solution 4 - Android

On devices with hardware menu buttons (Galaxy S3, stubborn as Samsung is...) the overflow menu behaves as the 'traditional' menu, by using the hardware menu button.

Solution 5 - Android

When you say "overflow" menu, do you mean the three dots that show up in the end to indicate that there are more items.... or do you mean the split actionbar that shows up in the bottom for overflow items?

If you mean the split action bar, you should add this to your activity's manifest file

android:uiOptions="splitActionBarWhenNarrow"

By default, the three dots overflow menu should happen automatically, so it's hard to tell what the problem is from the information you provided above.

Solution 6 - Android

To alway show action overflow (three dot) on actionbarcompat:
in menu file, example:
main.xml

<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto" >

    <item
        android:id="@+id/action_settings"
        android:title="@string/action_settings"
        app:showAsAction="never"/>
    <item
        android:id="@+id/action_about"
        android:title="@string/action_about"
        app:showAsAction="never"/>

</menu>

and in activity file:

@Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
	getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main, menu);
	return super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu);
}

It's worked fine for me.
Tested on Google Nexus S, Samsung S3.

Solution 7 - Android

It appears that on devices with a menu button the overflow menu does not show in the ActionBar. Also we have no way to know if a device has a hardware menu button before API level 14 (4.0+).

This solution adds a overflow button to a android.support.v7.app.ActionBar that opens the standard options menu on pre-Honeycomb (<3.0) only, otherwise leaving it to the system. In any case you can choose between always or ifRoom for all actions.

Get the overflow icon from the Action Bar Icon Pack.

Add a menu (I'omitting some non-relevant parts as titles, ordering etc.)

<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
      xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto">

<item
    android:id="@+id/action_overflow"
    android:orderInCategory="100"
    android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_overflow"
    app:showAsAction="always" />

<item
    android:id="@+id/action_first"
    app:showAsAction="always" />

<item
    android:id="@+id/action_second"
    app:showAsAction="ifRoom" />

</menu>

Remove our overflow action on 3.0+

@Override
public boolean onPrepareOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB) {
        menu.removeItem(R.id.action_overflow);
    }
    return super.onPrepareOptionsMenu(menu);
}

Finally call Activity.openOptionsMenu() from the overflow action.

Er... no. You cannot not call openOptionsMenu() from a menu button... but if you are using AndroidAnnotations you're done easily:

@OptionsItem
void action_overflow() {
    openOptionsMenuDeferred();
}

@UiThread
void openOptionsMenuDeferred() {
    openOptionsMenu();
}

If not you should do something like this, I suppose

@Override
public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
    if (item.getItemId() == id.action_overflow) {
        openOptionsMenuDeferred();
        return true;
    }
}

private Handler handler = new Handler(Looper.getMainLooper());
public void openOptionsMenuDeferred() {
    handler.post(new Runnable() {
        @Override
        public void run() {
            openOptionsMenu();
        }
    }
    );
}

Solution 8 - Android

Put xmlns:your_app_name="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto" inside menu tag and instead android:showAsAction="always" use your_app_name:showAsAction="always"

for eg

http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" xmlns:your_app_name="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto" >

<item
    android:id="@+id/action_search"
    android:icon="@drawable/icon_search"
    android:title="@string/search"
    your_app_name:showAsAction="ifRoom"/>

Solution 9 - Android

Try changing the theme of the app from Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar to Theme.AppCompat.Light

Content Type	Original Author	Original Content on Stackoverflow
Question	Mats Raemen	View Question on Stackoverflow
Solution 1 - Android	Atul Kaushik	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 2 - Android	Kirit Vaghela	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 3 - Android	LeviRockerSk8er	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 4 - Android	Lukas Batteau	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 5 - Android	wnafee	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 6 - Android	MrSiro	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 7 - Android	IlDan	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 8 - Android	Rashmi Jain	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 9 - Android	Sagar Devanga	View Answer on Stackoverflow