TL;DR: Developers often struggle with implementing rich text formatting in mobile apps. This guide shows how to build a Rich Text Editor using .NET MAUI, enabling cross-platform content creation with advanced styling features.
Modern mobile apps demand more than plain text; they require rich, interactive content that feels native across platforms. If you’re building a blog editor, email composer, or collaborative document tool, integrating a Rich Text Editor in your .NET MAUI app can dramatically improve usability and user satisfaction.
With the Essential Studio® 2025 Volume 3 release, a new control, the Rich Text Editor control, was introduced for the .NET MAUI platform.
The .NET MAUI Rich Text Editor provides a simple yet powerful editor interface for composing richly formatted text with all the common formatting options such as bold, italics, underline, etc. The Rich Text Editor control can create messaging applications, email composers, blog editors, forum post text boxes, feedback and review sections, notes sections, and more. It has various tools to edit and format rich content and returns valid HTML markup content.
In this article, we’ll explore the key features of the .NET MAUI Rich Text Editor control and the steps to get started.
Key features
The .NET MAUI Rich Text Editor supports:
Core formatting features:
- Text formatting: Bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, superscript, subscript.
- Font management: Font families, Font sizes, Text colors, and background colors.
- Paragraph formatting: Text alignment (left, center, right, justify) and indentation.
- Lists: Ordered and unordered lists.
- Headers: H1-H4 heading styles for structured content.
Advanced content features:
- Links: Create hyperlinks with custom text.
- Images: Upload the images from file explorer.
- Tables: Insert, edit, and delete the table row and columns.
- Undo/Redo: Full history management for content changes.
Text formatting support
Text formatting provides essential styling options to enhance content readability and emphasis. The Rich Text Editor offers six core formatting types:
- Bold: Creates strong emphasis by increasing font weight, ideal for headings and key terms.
- Italic: Adds subtle emphasis with slanted text, perfect for titles and foreign words.
- Underline: Draws attention with a line beneath text.
- Strikethrough: Crosses out text to show deletions or completed tasks.
- Superscript: Raises text above baseline for exponents (x²) and references.
- Subscript: Lowers text below baseline for chemical formulas (H₂O) and mathematical indices.
Font management support
Font management enables comprehensive text styling customization to match brand guidelines and improve readability. The Rich Text Editor provides four key font control options:
- Font families: Choose from default fonts (Arial, Times New Roman, Impact) or custom fonts for consistent branding.
- Font sizes: Select from predefined sizes (8pt – 36pt) point values for optimal readability.
- Font color: Apply any predefined color using color picker, hex codes, or RGB values to emphasize text or match themes.
- Background color: Highlight text with background colors for emphasis, like text markers.
Paragraph formatting support
Paragraph formatting controls text layout and structure for improved document readability. The Rich Text Editor offers comprehensive paragraph alignment and spacing options:
-
Text Alignment: Four alignment options enhance visual presentation:
- Left: Aligns text to the left margin (default).
- Center: Aligns text horizontally center within the container.
- Right: Aligns text to the right margin for specific layouts.
- Justify: Spreads text evenly across both margins for professional documents.
- Indentation: Control paragraph spacing with left and right indentation settings, perfect for quotes, lists, and hierarchical content structure.
Lists support
Lists organize content into structured, readable formats for better information hierarchy. The Rich Text Editor supports comprehensive list functionality:
- Ordered lists: Numbered sequences (1, 2, 3) are ideal for step-by-step instructions, procedures, and ranked items.
- Unordered lists: Bullet points for non-sequential items like features, benefits, or general information.
Headers support
Headers create document structure and hierarchy through predefined heading styles. The Rich Text Editor provides four essential heading levels:
- H1: Primary headings for main titles and document sections, typically the largest and boldest text.
- H2: Secondary headings for major subsections and chapter divisions.
- H3: Tertiary headings for detailed topics and sub-categories within sections.
- H4: Fourth-level headings for specific points and minor subdivisions.
Links support
Links enable interactive navigation and content connectivity within documents. The Rich Text Editor provides comprehensive hyperlink functionality:
- Custom text links: Create clickable text with user-defined display text that differs from the actual URL, improving readability and user experience.
Images support
Images enhance visual content and document engagement through comprehensive media integration. The Rich Text Editor provides powerful image management capabilities:
- Image upload: Support multiple file formats (JPG, PNG) with configurable size limits. Users can browse and select images from local storage with automatic format conversion.
Tables support
Tables organize structured data and create professional document layouts with comprehensive editing capabilities. The Rich Text Editor provides complete table management functionality:
- Table creation: Insert customizable tables with specified rows and columns.
- Row management: Add new rows above or below existing ones and delete unwanted rows.
- Column operations: Insert columns left or right of the current position and remove specific columns.
Undo/Redo support
Undo/Redo functionality provides comprehensive change management and user confidence during content editing. The Rich Text Editor maintains a complete operation history:
- Undo operations: Reverse recent actions step-by-step, including text insertions, deletions, formatting changes, and content modifications. Users can navigate backward through their editing history with Ctrl+Z or toolbar buttons.
- Redo operations: Restore previously undone actions with Ctrl+Y, allowing users to move forward through change history after undoing operations.
Steps to integrate the .NET MAUI Rich Text Editor control
Step 1: Create a .NET MAUI project
Start by creating a new .NET MAUI project in Visual Studio.
Step 2: Add the Syncfusion® MAUI Inputs package
Syncfusion® .NET MAUI components are available in the NuGet gallery. Open the NuGet Package Manager in Visual Studio, search for the Syncfusion.Maui.RichTextEditor package and install it.
Step 3: Register the handler
Register the handler for the Syncfusion® Core package in your MauiProgram.cs file.
using Syncfusion.Maui.Core.Hosting;
public static class MauiProgram
{
public static MauiApp CreateMauiApp()
{
var builder = MauiApp.CreateBuilder();
builder
.ConfigureSyncfusionCore()
// ...
;
return builder.Build();
}
}
Step 4: Add the namespace
Add the namespace Syncfusion.Maui.RichTextEditor in your XAML page, as shown below.
xmlns:rte="clr-namespace:Syncfusion.Maui.RichTextEditor;assembly=Syncfusion.Maui.RichTextEditor"
Step 5: Initialize the Syncfusion® MAUI Rich Text Editor control
Now, initialize the .NET MAUI Rich Text Editor control, as shown below.
<rte:SfRichTextEditor x:Name="richTextEditor" />
Below is an example showcasing the Rich Text Editor control.
GitHub reference
For more details, refer to the .NET MAUI Rich Text Editor control demo on GitHub.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading! The Syncfusion*®*.NET MAUI Rich Text Editor built with .NET MAUI empowers developers to deliver polished, professional content experiences across platforms. This isn’t just another text input control, It’s a full-featured content creation tool for modern mobile and desktop apps.
Whether you’re building a document management system, a blogging platform, or a collaborative editing solution, integrating a Rich Text Editor ensures consistent formatting, intuitive user interaction, and productivity gains. Start building today and give your users the editing experience they expect.
Ready to elevate your app’s user experience? Download our free trial and explore the full power of Syncfusion’s .NET MAUI suite.
Check out our Release notes and What’s new pages for the other updates in this release.
If you have any questions or comments, you can reach us through our support forums, support portal, or feedback portal. We are always happy to assist you!
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This article was originally published at Syncfusion.com.
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