{"id":1407,"date":"2020-12-02T07:08:04","date_gmt":"2020-12-02T07:08:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pythontutorial.net\/?page_id=1407"},"modified":"2020-12-25T06:27:01","modified_gmt":"2020-12-25T06:27:01","slug":"tkinter-menu","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pythontutorial.net\/tkinter\/tkinter-menu\/","title":{"rendered":"Tkinter Menu"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Summary<\/strong>: in this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create a Tkinter menu bar, add menus to the menu bar, and add menu items to each menu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When an application contains a lot of functions, you need to use menus to organize them for easier navigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Typically, you use a menu to group closely related operations. For example, you can find the File menu in most text editors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tkinter natively supports menus. It displays menus with the look-and-feel of the target platform that the program runs e.g., Windows, macOS, and Linux.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creating a simple menu #<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

First, create a root<\/code> window and set its title to 'Menu Demo'<\/code>:<\/p>\n\n\n

root = tk.Tk()\nroot.title('Menu Demo'<\/span>)<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Python<\/span> (<\/span>python<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Second, create a menu bar and assign it to the menu<\/code> option of the root<\/code> window:<\/p>\n\n\n
menubar = Menu(root)\nroot.config(menu=menubar)<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Python<\/span> (<\/span>python<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Third, create a File<\/strong> menu whose container is the menubar<\/code>:<\/p>\n\n\n
file_menu = Menu(menubar)<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Python<\/span> (<\/span>python<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Fourth, add a menu item to the file_menu<\/code>:<\/p>\n\n\n
file_menu.add_command(\n    label='Exit'<\/span>,\n    command=root.destroy,\n)<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Python<\/span> (<\/span>python<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
In this example, the label of the menu item is Exit<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you click the Exit<\/code> menu item, Python will call the root.destroy()<\/code> method automatically to close the root<\/code> window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, add the File<\/code> menu to the menubar:<\/p>\n\n\n
menubar.add_cascade(\n    label=\"File\"<\/span>,\n    menu=file_menu,\n    underline=0<\/span>\n)<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Python<\/span> (<\/span>python<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
The underline<\/code> option allows you to create a keyboard shortcut. It specifies the character position that should be underlined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Note that the position starts from zero. In this example, we specify it as the first character which is F<\/code>. And you can select it by using the Alt+F<\/code> keyboard shortcut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Put it all together:<\/p>\n\n\n
import<\/span> tkinter as<\/span> tk\nfrom<\/span> tkinter import<\/span> Menu\n\n# root window<\/span>\nroot = tk.Tk()\nroot.title('Menu Demo'<\/span>)\n\n# create a menubar<\/span>\nmenubar = Menu(root)\nroot.config(menu=menubar)\n\n# create a menu<\/span>\nfile_menu = Menu(menubar)\n\n# add a menu item to the menu<\/span>\nfile_menu.add_command(\n    label='Exit'<\/span>,\n    command=root.destroy\n)\n\n\n# add the File menu to the menubar<\/span>\nmenubar.add_cascade(\n    label=\"File\"<\/span>,\n    menu=file_menu\n)\n\nroot.mainloop()<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Python<\/span> (<\/span>python<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Output:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
By default, Tkinter adds a dashed line before the first menu item. When you click the dashed line, the main window will detach the menu from it like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
To remove the dashed line, you can set the tearoff<\/code> property of the menu to False<\/code>:<\/p>\n\n\n
file_menu = Menu(menubar, tearoff=False<\/span>)<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Python<\/span> (<\/span>python<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Output:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Creating a more complex menu #<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The following program illustrates how to create a menu bar, add the File <\/strong>and Help <\/strong>menus to the menu bar. Also, it adds multiple menu items to these menus:<\/p>\n\n\n
from<\/span> tkinter import<\/span> Tk, Frame, Menu\n\n\n# root window<\/span>\nroot = Tk()\nroot.geometry('320x150'<\/span>)\nroot.title('Menu Demo'<\/span>)\n\n\n# create a menubar<\/span>\nmenubar = Menu(root)\nroot.config(menu=menubar)\n\n# create the file_menu<\/span>\nfile_menu = Menu(\n    menubar,\n    tearoff=0<\/span>\n)\n\n# add menu items to the File menu<\/span>\nfile_menu.add_command(label='New'<\/span>)\nfile_menu.add_command(label='Open...'<\/span>)\nfile_menu.add_command(label='Close'<\/span>)\nfile_menu.add_separator()\n\n# add Exit menu item<\/span>\nfile_menu.add_command(\n    label='Exit'<\/span>,\n    command=root.destroy\n)\n\n# add the File menu to the menubar<\/span>\nmenubar.add_cascade(\n    label=\"File\"<\/span>,\n    menu=file_menu\n)\n# create the Help menu<\/span>\nhelp_menu = Menu(\n    menubar,\n    tearoff=0<\/span>\n)\n\nhelp_menu.add_command(label='Welcome'<\/span>)\nhelp_menu.add_command(label='About...'<\/span>)\n\n# add the Help menu to the menubar<\/span>\nmenubar.add_cascade(\n    label=\"Help\"<\/span>,\n    menu=help_menu\n)\n\nroot.mainloop()<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Python<\/span> (<\/span>python<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Output:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The only new statement in this program is to use the add_separator()<\/code> method to add a separator to the menu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adding a submenu #<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The following program adds the menu item Preferences<\/code> to the File<\/code> menu and create a submenu that links the new menu item:<\/p>\n\n\n
from<\/span> tkinter import<\/span> Tk, Menu\n\n\n# root window<\/span>\nroot = Tk()\nroot.geometry('320x150'<\/span>)\nroot.title('Menu Demo'<\/span>)\n\n\n# create a menubar<\/span>\nmenubar = Menu(root)\nroot.config(menu=menubar)\n\n# create the file_menu<\/span>\nfile_menu = Menu(\n    menubar,\n    tearoff=0<\/span>\n)\n\n# add menu items to the File menu<\/span>\nfile_menu.add_command(label='New'<\/span>)\nfile_menu.add_command(label='Open...'<\/span>)\nfile_menu.add_command(label='Close'<\/span>)\nfile_menu.add_separator()\n\n# add a submenu<\/span>\nsub_menu = Menu(file_menu, tearoff=0<\/span>)\nsub_menu.add_command(label='Keyboard Shortcuts'<\/span>)\nsub_menu.add_command(label='Color Themes'<\/span>)\n\n# add the File menu to the menubar<\/span>\nfile_menu.add_cascade(\n    label=\"Preferences\"<\/span>,\n    menu=sub_menu\n)\n\n# add Exit menu item<\/span>\nfile_menu.add_separator()\nfile_menu.add_command(\n    label='Exit'<\/span>,\n    command=root.destroy\n)\n\n\nmenubar.add_cascade(\n    label=\"File\"<\/span>,\n    menu=file_menu,\n    underline=0<\/span>\n)\n# create the Help menu<\/span>\nhelp_menu = Menu(\n    menubar,\n    tearoff=0<\/span>\n)\n\nhelp_menu.add_command(label='Welcome'<\/span>)\nhelp_menu.add_command(label='About...'<\/span>)\n\n# add the Help menu to the menubar<\/span>\nmenubar.add_cascade(\n    label=\"Help\"<\/span>,\n    menu=help_menu,\n    underline=0<\/span>\n)\n\nroot.mainloop()\n<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Python<\/span> (<\/span>python<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Output:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
How it works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The following code adds a submenu to File<\/code> menu and links the submenu to Preferences<\/code> menu item:<\/p>\n\n\n
# add a submenu<\/span>\nsub_menu = Menu(file_menu, tearoff=0<\/span>)\nsub_menu.add_command(label='Keyboard Shortcuts'<\/span>)\nsub_menu.add_command(label='Color Themes'<\/span>)\n\n# add the File menu to the menubar<\/span>\nfile_menu.add_cascade(\n    label=\"Preferences\"<\/span>,\n    menu=sub_menu\n)<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Python<\/span> (<\/span>python<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Summary #<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
  • Use Menu()<\/code> to create a new menu,<\/li>
  • Use menu.add_command()<\/code> method to add a menu item to the menu.<\/li>
  • Use menubar.add_cascade(menu_title, menu)<\/code> to add a menu<\/code> to the menubar<\/code>.<\/li>
  • Use menu.add(submenu_title, submenu)<\/code> to add a submenu to the menu<\/code>.<\/li><\/ul>\n
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    Was this tutorial helpful ?<\/div>\n\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/path>\n\t\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t Yes <\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/path>\n\t\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t No <\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/header>\n\n\t
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    <\/div>\n\t\t\t
Note that each top-level window<\/a> can only have only one menu bar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n