Autocomplete Combobox Tkinter !!top!! Jun 2026
Offers a user experience similar to modern web search bars and desktop applications. Implementing the Autocomplete Functionality
Args: item: The item to check search_text: The text to search for
Args: master: Parent widget completevalues: List of all possible values case_sensitive: Whether matching should be case-sensitive match_function: Custom function to determine matches (takes value and search text) **kwargs: Additional arguments for ttk.Combobox """ # Store the complete list of all possible values self._completevalues = completevalues or [] self._case_sensitive = case_sensitive self._match_function = match_function or self._default_match_function
The user must:
When the user selects an item from the dropdown, we want to store that value without refiltering. The <<ComboboxSelected>> event is perfect:
# Limit size if len(self._recent_items) > self._max_recent: self._recent_items = self._recent_items[:self._max_recent]
import tkinter as tk from tkinter import ttk autocomplete combobox tkinter
Here is a basic implementation:
# Filter logic (case-insensitive) # We check if the item starts with the typed text hits = [item for item in self._completion_list if item.lower().startswith(current_text.lower())]
def _handle_keyrelease(self, event): """Handles the key release event to filter values.""" current_text = self.get() Offers a user experience similar to modern web
# Don't update if nothing changed if current_text == self._current_value: return
def update_autocomplete(self): typed = self.get() if typed == '': self.filtered_values = self.completevalues[:] else: # Simple case-insensitive matching (contains) self.filtered_values = [item for item in self.completevalues if typed.lower() in item.lower()] # Update combobox dropdown values self['values'] = self.filtered_values