Switch Widget in Kivy Python

Last Updated : 8 Oct, 2025

A Switch is a two-state widget (On/Off) that represents a boolean value (True/False) and can be bound to callbacks to react to state changes. Let's add a simple Switch to a Kivy window.

Below example shows a single Switch with a short label near the top of the window (no callback).

Python `

from kivy.app import App from kivy.uix.switch import Switch from kivy.uix.label import Label from kivy.uix.widget import Widget from kivy.core.window import Window

Window.clearcolor = (1, 1, 1, 1)

class BasicSwitch(Widget): def init(self, **kwargs): super().init(**kwargs) cx = Window.width / 2 self.lbl = Label(text='Switch', color=(0,0,0,1),pos=(cx - 120, Window.height - 120)) self.add_widget(self.lbl) self.sw = Switch(active=False, pos=(cx + 40, Window.height - 135)) self.add_widget(self.sw)

class SwitchApp(App): def build(self): return BasicSwitch()

if name == 'main': SwitchApp().run()

**Output

BasicSwitchOutput

**Explanation:

**Window.clearcolor = (1,1,1,1): sets a white background.
**Label(...): displays a short message near the top.
**Switch(active=False): places the switch beside the label.
**add_widget(): adds both widgets to the window.

Syntax

Switch(active=False, disabled=False, size_hint=(None, None), pos=(x,y))

**Parameters:

**active: True if the switch starts ON, False if OFF.
**disabled: True to disable interaction.
**size_hint, pos: use size_hint=(None,None) and pos for manual placement.

**Common usage: **sw.bind(active=callback) -> responds when user toggles the switch. Read the state using **sw.active.

Examples

**Example 1: This example updates a Label and prints to console when the switch changes

Python `

Window.clearcolor = (0.98, 0.98, 1, 1)

class CallbackSwitch(Widget): def init(self, **kwargs): super().init(**kwargs) cx = Window.width / 2 self.lbl = Label(text='Switch is OFF', color=(0,0,0,1),pos=(cx - 120, Window.height - 140)) self.add_widget(self.lbl) self.sw = Switch(active=False, pos=(cx + 60, Window.height - 155)) self.sw.bind(active=self.on_active) self.add_widget(self.sw)

def on_active(self, instance, value):
    self.lbl.text = 'Switch is ON' if value else 'Switch is OFF'
    print('Switch state:', 'ON' if value else 'OFF')

class SwitchApp(App): def build(self): return CallbackSwitch()

if name == 'main': SwitchApp().run()

**Output

SwitchWidgetEx1Output

**Explanation:

Create a label to show the current state.
Create a **Switch(active=False) and position it slightly lower than the label.
Bind the switch to a callback using **sw.bind(active=self.on_active).
Update the label and print the switch state in the callback.

**Example 2: This program changes the window background color when the switch is toggled

Python `

Window.clearcolor = (1, 1, 1, 1)

class BgToggleSwitch(Widget): def init(self, **kwargs): super().init(**kwargs) cx = Window.width / 2 self.lbl = Label(text='Background: White', color=(0,0,0,1),pos=(cx - 160, Window.height - 140)) self.add_widget(self.lbl) self.sw = Switch(active=False, pos=(cx + 60, Window.height - 155)) self.sw.bind(active=self.toggle_bg) self.add_widget(self.sw)

def toggle_bg(self, instance, value):
    if value:
        Window.clearcolor = (0.88, 1, 0.88, 1)
        self.lbl.text = 'Background: Light Green'
    else:
        Window.clearcolor = (1, 1, 1, 1)
        self.lbl.text = 'Background: White'

class SwitchApp(App): def build(self): return BgToggleSwitch()

if name == 'main': SwitchApp().run()

**Output

SwitchWidgetEx2Output

**Explanation:

Display a label showing current background color.
Create a switch below and bind it to **toggle_bg().
When toggled **ON, background changes to green; when **OFF, returns to white.
Label text updates accordingly.

Switch Widget in Kivy Python (original) (raw)

Syntax

Examples