Tkinter Text Widget in Python

Tkinter Text Widget

The Text widget in Tkinter is a multiline text area where users can enter and edit text. Unlike the Entry widget, which is limited to a single line, the Text widget allows for multiple lines of text and supports various text formatting features.

The Text widget is useful for implementing text editors, chat applications, and log viewers in a Tkinter-based GUI application.

Syntax

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tk.Text(master, **options)

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`master`	Widget	The parent widget, usually a frame or root window.
`height`	Integer	Specifies the number of lines the text widget should have.
`width`	Integer	Specifies the number of characters per line.
`bg`	String	Sets the background color of the text widget.
`fg`	String	Sets the text color.
`font`	Tuple	Defines the font type, size, and style.
`wrap`	String	Defines text wrapping behavior (`none`, `char`, or `word`).

Examples

1. Creating a Basic Text Widget

In this example, we create a simple Text widget inside a Tkinter window.

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import tkinter as tk

root = tk.Tk()
root.title("Text Widget Example - tutorialkart.com")
root.geometry("400x200")

# Create a Text widget
text_widget = tk.Text(root, height=5, width=40)
text_widget.pack(pady=10)

root.mainloop()

Output in Windows:

Creating a Basic Text Widget in Tkinter Python

A blank text area appears, allowing users to type multiple lines of text.

Creating a Basic Text Widget in Tkinter Python - User Enters some text into it

2. Setting Default Text in Text Widget

We can insert default text into the Text widget using the insert method.

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import tkinter as tk

root = tk.Tk()
root.title("Text Widget Example - tutorialkart.com")
root.geometry("400x200")

text_widget = tk.Text(root, height=5, width=40)
text_widget.pack(pady=10)

# Insert default text
text_widget.insert("1.0", "Welcome to the Tkinter Text Widget!")

root.mainloop()

Output in Windows:

The text area appears with the default text “Welcome to the Tkinter Text Widget!” already inserted.

Setting Default Text in Text Widget in tkinter Python

3. Retrieving Text from the Text Widget

We can retrieve text from the Text widget using the get method. Here’s an example where we display the entered text in the console.

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import tkinter as tk

root = tk.Tk()
root.title("Text Widget Example - tutorialkart.com")
root.geometry("400x200")

def get_text():
    text = text_widget.get("1.0", "end-1c")  # Retrieve text from the widget
    print("Entered text:", text)

text_widget = tk.Text(root, height=5, width=40)
text_widget.pack(pady=10)

# Create a button to retrieve text
btn = tk.Button(root, text="Get Text", command=get_text)
btn.pack()

root.mainloop()

Output in Windows:

When the user clicks the “Get Text” button, the entered text is printed in the console.

Retrieving Text from the Text Widget in Tkinter Python

Enter some text in the input field and click on the button.

Retrieving Text from the Text Widget in Tkinter Python - Console Output

4. Disabling Editing in the Text Widget

To make the text widget read-only, we can set the state property to disabled.

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import tkinter as tk

root = tk.Tk()
root.title("Text Widget Example - tutorialkart.com")
root.geometry("400x200")

text_widget = tk.Text(root, height=5, width=40)
text_widget.pack(pady=10)

text_widget.insert("1.0", "This text is read-only.")
text_widget.config(state="disabled")  # Disable editing

root.mainloop()

Output in Windows:

A text area appears with pre-filled text that users cannot edit.

Disabling Editing in the Text Widget in Tkinter Python

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we explored the Tkinter Text widget, including:

Creating a basic text widget
Setting default text
Retrieving text entered by users
Disabling text editing

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Tkinter Text Widget in Python