Combo boxes

Best practices

Populate the field with a meaningful default value from the list.

Use an introductory label to let people know what types of items to expect.

Provide relevant choices.

Make sure list items aren’t wider than the text field.


For the complete guidance, including worked examples and illustrations, see the canonical page: https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/combo-boxes

Apple HIG text and imagery are © Apple Inc. This page is a structured index of Apple’s canonical documentation (snapshot 2025-02-02), provided for quick reference and AI-agent consumption — it isn’t affiliated with or endorsed by Apple. Read the original at developer.apple.com (opens in new tab).

Get HIG guidance in your AI

Install HIG Doctor and get expert Apple design guidance directly in Claude Code.

npx skills add raintree-technology/hig-doctor
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