Splash screen for Android is default .NET splash screen and not specified splash screen MAUI

Question

Splash screen for Android is default .NET splash screen and not specified splash screen MAUI

Jai Holloway 110

I have

<MauiSplashScreen Include="Resources\Splash\splash.png" BaseSize="128,128" />

In my csproj., but the android splash screen is the default purple .NET splash screen. It works fine in iOS, but not on android. What would be causing this?

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2 answers

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Answer 1

On Android, .NET MAUI will only show the custom splash screen if all of the following are true:

The splash image is correctly registered as a MAUI splash screen resource.
The Android activity/manifest is using Maui.SplashTheme.
The file name complies with Android resource naming rules.

Check these points:

Confirm the resource and build action
- The splash file should be under Resources\Splash\ and have build action MauiSplashScreen.
- In the project file it should look like:
```
     <ItemGroup>
       <MauiSplashScreen Include="Resources\Splash\splash.png" BaseSize="128,128" />
     </ItemGroup>
```
- Ensure there is no other <MauiSplashScreen ...> entry pointing to a different image that could override this.
Ensure the file name is Android‑valid
- Android resource naming rules apply to splash screen files: the file name must be lowercase, start and end with a letter, and contain only letters, digits, or underscores.
- For example, splash.png is valid; Splash.png, splash-screen.png, or ******@2x.png can cause Android to fall back to the default purple splash.

Verify the Android theme is not overridden

MAUI uses Maui.SplashTheme by default to show the splash screen. If the activity or manifest overrides the theme, Android may ignore the MAUI-generated splash and show the default.

MainActivity should look like:

     [Activity(Theme = "@style/Maui.SplashTheme", MainLauncher = true,
               ConfigurationChanges = ConfigChanges.ScreenSize | ConfigChanges.Orientation |
                                     ConfigChanges.UiMode | ConfigChanges.ScreenLayout |
                                     ConfigChanges.SmallestScreenSize)]
     public class MainActivity : MauiAppCompatActivity
     {
     }

In Platforms/Android/AndroidManifest.xml, the <application> element should not set a different theme that replaces Maui.SplashTheme.

Clean and rebuild
- After fixing naming or theme issues, perform a Clean and then Rebuild, and if needed uninstall the app from the emulator/device so the new resources are picked up.

If the image is correctly registered as MauiSplashScreen, the file name follows Android rules, and Maui.SplashTheme is used, Android will use the specified splash instead of the default purple screen.

References:

Answer 2

Nancy Vo (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 4,845 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello @Jai Holloway ,

Thanks for your question.

You can refer to following workarounds:

Open your .csproj file and make sure you have only one <MauiSplashScreen> entry, and that it includes a Color attribute:

<ItemGroup>
    <MauiSplashScreen Include="Resources\Splash\splash.png" Color="#FFFFFF" BaseSize="128,128" />
</ItemGroup>

Check your splash.png file

Android is pickier than iOS about splash images. Make sure:

The Build Action is set to MauiSplashScreen.

Open Platforms/Android/MainActivity.cs and confirm the Theme attribute is @style/Maui.SplashTheme:

[Activity(
    Theme = "@style/Maui.SplashTheme",
    MainLauncher = true,
    ConfigurationChanges = ConfigChanges.ScreenSize | ConfigChanges.Orientation | ConfigChanges.UiMode | ConfigChanges.ScreenLayout | ConfigChanges.SmallestScreenSize | ConfigChanges.Density)]
public class MainActivity : MauiAppCompatActivity
{
}

If Theme is missing or points to something else (like a custom theme that doesn't inherit from Maui.SplashTheme), Android will fall back to the default purple splash.

Check Platforms/Android/Resources/values/styles.xml

If this file exists, it can override your splash. Open it and look for Maui.SplashTheme. It should look like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<resources>
    <style name="Maui.SplashTheme" parent="Theme.SplashScreen">
        <item name="windowSplashScreenBackground">@color/colorPrimary</item>
        <item name="windowSplashScreenAnimatedIcon">@drawable/splash</item>
        <item name="postSplashScreenTheme">@style/Maui.MainTheme</item>
    </style>
</resources>

If the file references a hardcoded drawable like @drawable/splash_dotnet_bot or similar, please delete that line.

Clear the cache since Android aggressively caches the old splash.

Close visual studio
Please delete these folders: bin/ and obj/
Uninstall the app from your Android device or emulator
Reopen Visual Studio
Clean the solution → Rebuild the solution
Run/deploy the app again

If it still does not work, please wipe the emulator:

Open Android Device Manager
Click your emulator → Wipe Data
Or create a brand new emulator and deploy fresh

Finally, check your folder structure again. The file must live at Resources/Splash/splash.png (matching the path in .csproj).

Please try these steps. You do not need to try all of them - these are alternative workarounds. If one resolves the issue, you can skip the rest.

Hope this helps! If my answer was helpful - kindly follow the instructions here so others with the same problem can benefit as well.

Jai Holloway 110 Reputation points

2026-05-28T08:34:04.3733333+00:00

I tried everything and it is still using the default .net splash screen. I added a new SVG to see if that was the problem, but it is not. It did add a second MauiSplashScreen to my csproj, but I removed the old png and it made no difference
Nancy Vo (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 4,845 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-28T10:39:38.88+00:00
Hi @Jai Holloway ,

I tested this on my side, and it works as expected.

I added a new .svg image in Resources/Splash named splashscreen.svg.

This is my example svg file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="456" height="456" viewBox="0 0 456 456"> <circle cx="228" cy="228" r="180" fill="#FFFFFF" /> </svg>

Make sure the build action of this file is set to MauiSplashScreen:

Right-click splashscreen.svg

Select Properties

Set the Build Action field to MauiSplashScreen

Additionally, in your .csproj file, replace your old splash screen line with:

<MauiSplashScreen Include="Resources\Splash\splashscreen.svg" Color="#FF6B00" BaseSize="128,128" />

If your project contains this line, please remove it:

<None Remove="Resources\Splash\splashscreen.svg" />

Note: Clean and rebuild the project before testing again.
Jai Holloway 110 Reputation points

2026-05-28T10:41:48.6133333+00:00

I have even tried creating a custom style, that didn't work either. Nothing works. As far as I have read, you just replace your splash screen with a custom one and android should pick it up.
Nancy Vo (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 4,845 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-28T11:02:51.77+00:00

My setup is like this.

After I add following line of code, I clean and rebuild the project, and it runs normally.

Please check again to make sure the Build Action is set correctly and that there isn’t any Remove item line in the .csproj file.
Nancy Vo (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 4,845 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-02T02:29:43.8433333+00:00

Hi @Jai Holloway ,

If you're still interested or have any questions, feel free to reach out whenever it works best for you.

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Splash screen for Android is default .NET splash screen and not specified splash screen MAUI

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