Style Tkinter Dropdown Menus in Python

Tkinter is a popular GUI toolkit for Python that allows developers to create graphical user interfaces for their applications. Dropdown menus, also known as OptionMenus, are a common element in Tkinter GUIs, and they can be styled to better match the overall design of your application.

OptionMenu Change Default Icon in Tkinter GUI

By default, Tkinter OptionMenu widgets use a standard dropdown arrow icon to indicate that they are clickable. However, you can change this default icon to better fit the style of your application.

To change the default icon in a Tkinter OptionMenu, you can use the “indicatoron” option to make the dropdown arrow invisible, and then create a custom button to serve as the new dropdown icon.

Here’s an example of how to accomplish this:

        
import tkinter as tk

def on_dropdown_click():
    # handle dropdown click event
    pass

root = tk.Tk()
root.geometry("300x200")

# create a StringVar to hold the selected value
selected_option = tk.StringVar(root)
selected_option.set("Option 1")

# create a custom button for the dropdown icon
dropdown_button = tk.Button(root, text="▼", command=on_dropdown_click)
dropdown_button.place(x=200, y=50)

# create the OptionMenu with invisible dropdown arrow
option_menu = tk.OptionMenu(root, selected_option, "Option 1", "Option 2", "Option 3")
option_menu.config(indicatoron=0)
option_menu.place(x=50, y=50)

root.mainloop()
        
    

With this approach, you can fully customize the appearance of the dropdown icon in a Tkinter OptionMenu to match the design of your GUI.

Conclusion

Styling Tkinter dropdown menus in Python can help improve the overall look and feel of your application. By changing the default icon in OptionMenu widgets, you can create a more cohesive and visually appealing user interface for your Tkinter GUI.