UITableView - change section header color

This is an old question, but I think the answer needs to be updated.

This method does not involve defining and creating your own custom view. In iOS 6 and up, you can easily change the background color and the text color by defining the

-(void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView 
    willDisplayHeaderView:(UIView *)view 
    forSection:(NSInteger)section

section delegate method

For example:

- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView willDisplayHeaderView:(UIView *)view forSection:(NSInteger)section
{
    // Background color
    view.tintColor = [UIColor blackColor];

    // Text Color
    UITableViewHeaderFooterView *header = (UITableViewHeaderFooterView *)view;
    [header.textLabel setTextColor:[UIColor whiteColor]];

    // Another way to set the background color
    // Note: does not preserve gradient effect of original header
    // header.contentView.backgroundColor = [UIColor blackColor];
}

Taken from my post here: https://happyteamlabs.com/blog/ios-how-to-customize-table-view-header-and-footer-colors/

Swift 3 / 4

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int){
    view.tintColor = UIColor.red
    let header = view as! UITableViewHeaderFooterView
    header.textLabel?.textColor = UIColor.white
}

---

Hopefully this method from the UITableViewDelegate protocol will get you started:

Objective-C:

- (UIView *) tableView:(UITableView *)tableView viewForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section 
{
  UIView *headerView = [[[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, tableView.bounds.size.width, 30)] autorelease];
  if (section == integerRepresentingYourSectionOfInterest)
     [headerView setBackgroundColor:[UIColor redColor]];
  else 
     [headerView setBackgroundColor:[UIColor clearColor]];
  return headerView;
}

Swift:

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView!, viewForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> UIView!
{
  let headerView = UIView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: tableView.bounds.size.width, height: 30))
  if (section == integerRepresentingYourSectionOfInterest) {
    headerView.backgroundColor = UIColor.redColor()
  } else {
    headerView.backgroundColor = UIColor.clearColor()
  }
  return headerView
}

Updated 2017:

Swift 3:

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, viewForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> UIView?
    {
        let headerView = UIView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: tableView.bounds.size.width, height: 30))
        if (section == integerRepresentingYourSectionOfInterest) {
            headerView.backgroundColor = UIColor.red
        } else {
            headerView.backgroundColor = UIColor.clear
        }
        return headerView
    }

Replace [UIColor redColor] with whichever UIColor you would like. You may also wish to adjust the dimensions of headerView.

---

Here's how to change the text color.

UILabel *label = [[[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(10, 3, tableView.bounds.size.width - 10, 18)] autorelease];
label.text = @"Section Header Text Here";
label.textColor = [UIColor colorWithRed:1.0 green:1.0 blue:1.0 alpha:0.75];
label.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
[headerView addSubview:label];

---

You can do this if you want header with custom color. This solution works great since iOS 6.0.

Objective C:

[[UITableViewHeaderFooterView appearance] setTintColor:[UIColor redColor]];

Swift:

UITableViewHeaderFooterView.appearance().tintColor = .white

---

The following solution works for Swift 1.2 with iOS 8+

override func tableView(tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int) {

    // This changes the header background
    view.tintColor = UIColor.blueColor()

    // Gets the header view as a UITableViewHeaderFooterView and changes the text colour
    var headerView: UITableViewHeaderFooterView = view as! UITableViewHeaderFooterView
    headerView.textLabel.textColor = UIColor.redColor()

}

---

Setting the background color on UITableViewHeaderFooterView has been deprecated. Please use contentView.backgroundColor instead.

---

You can do it on main.storyboard in about 2 seconds.

Select Table View Go to Attributes Inspector List item Scroll down to View subheading Change "background"

https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q808i.png

---

Don't forget to add this piece of code from the delegate or your view will be cut off or appear behind the table in some cases, relative to the height of your view/label.

- (CGFloat)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView heightForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section
{
    return 30;
}

---

If you don't want to create a custom view, you can also change the color like this (requires iOS 6):

-(void) tableView:(UITableView *)tableView willDisplayHeaderView:(UIView *)view forSection:(NSInteger)section {
    if ([view isKindOfClass: [UITableViewHeaderFooterView class]]) {
        UITableViewHeaderFooterView* castView = (UITableViewHeaderFooterView*) view;
        UIView* content = castView.contentView;
        UIColor* color = [UIColor colorWithWhite:0.85 alpha:1.]; // substitute your color here
        content.backgroundColor = color;
    }
}

---

For swift 5 +

In willDisplayHeaderView Method

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int) {

     //For Header Background Color
     view.tintColor = .black

    // For Header Text Color
    let header = view as! UITableViewHeaderFooterView
    header.textLabel?.textColor = .white
}

I hope this helps you :]

---

Set the background and text color of section area: (Thanks to William Jockusch and Dj S)

- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView willDisplayHeaderView:(UIView *)view forSection:(NSInteger)section
{
    if ([view isKindOfClass: [UITableViewHeaderFooterView class]]) {
        UITableViewHeaderFooterView* castView = (UITableViewHeaderFooterView*) view;
        castView.contentView.backgroundColor = [UIColor grayColor];
        [castView.textLabel setTextColor:[UIColor grayColor]];
    }
}

---

Swift 4

To change the background color, text label color and font for the Header View of a UITableView Section, simply override willDisplayHeaderView for your table view like so:

override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int) {
        let header = view as! UITableViewHeaderFooterView
        header.backgroundView?.backgroundColor = .white
        header.textLabel?.textColor = .black
        header.textLabel?.font = UIFont(name: "Helvetica-Bold", size: 14)
} 

This worked perfectly for me; hope it does help you too!

---

Here's how to add an image in header view:

- (UIView *) tableView:(UITableView *)tableView viewForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section 
{
    UIView *headerView = [[[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, tableView.bounds.size.width, 30)] autorelease];
    UIImageView *headerImage = [[[UIImageView alloc] initWithImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"top-gery-bar.png"]] autorelease];

    headerImage.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, tableView.bounds.size.width, 30);

    [headerView addSubview:headerImage];

    return headerView;
}

---

For iOS8 (Beta) and Swift choose the RGB Color you want and try this:

override func tableView(tableView: UITableView!, viewForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> UIView! {
    var header :UITableViewHeaderFooterView = UITableViewHeaderFooterView()

    header.contentView.backgroundColor = UIColor(red: 254.0/255.0, green: 190.0/255.0, blue: 127.0/255.0, alpha: 1)
    return header

}

(The "override" is there since i´m using the UITableViewController instead of a normal UIViewController in my project, but it´s not mandatory for changing the section header color)

The text of your header will still be seen. Note that you will need to adjust the section header height.

Good Luck.

---

SWIFT 2

I was able to successfully change the section background color with an added blur effect (which is really cool). To change the background color of section easily:

First go to Storyboard and select the Table View Go to Attributes Inspector List item Scroll down to View Change "Background"

Then for blur effect, add to code:

override func tableView(tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int) {

    // This is the blur effect

    let blurEffect = UIBlurEffect(style: .Light)
    let blurEffectView = UIVisualEffectView(effect: blurEffect)

    // Gets the header view as a UITableViewHeaderFooterView and changes the text colour and adds above blur effect
    let headerView: UITableViewHeaderFooterView = view as! UITableViewHeaderFooterView
    headerView.textLabel!.textColor = UIColor.darkGrayColor()
    headerView.textLabel!.font = UIFont(name: "HelveticaNeue-Light", size: 13)
    headerView.tintColor = .groupTableViewBackgroundColor()
    headerView.backgroundView = blurEffectView

}

---

Swift 4 makes it very easy. Simply add this to your class and set the color as needed.

override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int) {
        view.backgroundColor = UIColor(red: 0.094, green: 0.239, blue: 0.424, alpha: 1.0)
    }

or if a simple color

override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int) {
        view.backgroundColor = UIColor.white
    }

Updated for Swift 5

override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int) {
        view.tintColor = UIColor(red: 0.094, green: 0.239, blue: 0.424, alpha: 1.0)
    }

or if a simple color

override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int) {
        view.tintColor = UIColor.white
    }

---

I know its answered, just in case, In Swift use the following

    override func tableView(tableView: UITableView, viewForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> UIView? {
        let tableViewWidth = self.tableView.bounds

        let headerView = UIView(frame: CGRectMake(0, 0, tableViewWidth.size.width, self.tableView.sectionHeaderHeight))
        headerView.backgroundColor = UIColor.greenColor()

        return headerView
    }

---

For me none of above works after wasting 2 hours what this is the solution. In my case it was custom view but I cannot able to change it from storyboard and view's awakeFromNib for some reason.

override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int) {
        let header = view as! UITableViewHeaderFooterView
        header.contentView.backgroundColor = .white
    }

---

iOS 8+

func tableView(tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int) {
        tableView.tableHeaderView?.backgroundColor = UIColor.blue()
}

---

Based on @Dj S answer, using Swift 3. This works great on iOS 10.

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int) {
    // Background color
    view.tintColor = UIColor.black

    // Text Color
    let headerView = view as! UITableViewHeaderFooterView
    headerView.textLabel?.textColor = UIColor.white
}

---

I have a project using static table view cells, in iOS 7.x. willDisplayHeaderView does not fire. However, this method works ok:

- (UIView *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView viewForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section
{
    NSLog(@"%s", __FUNCTION__);
    CGRect headerFrame = CGRectMake(x, y, w, h);    
    UIView *headerView = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:headerFrame];  
    headerView.backgroundColor = [UIColor blackColor];

---

 -(void) tableView:(UITableView *)tableView willDisplayHeaderView:(UIView *)view
  forSection:(NSInteger)section
  {
        if ([view isKindOfClass: [UITableViewHeaderFooterView class]])
        {
             UITableViewHeaderFooterView *castView = (UITableViewHeaderFooterView *) view;
             UIView *content = castView.contentView;
             UIColor *color = [UIColor whiteColor]; // substitute your color here
             content.backgroundColor = color;
             [castView.textLabel setTextColor:[UIColor blackColor]];
        }
 }

---

I think this code is not so bad.

func tableView(tableView: UITableView, viewForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> UIView? {
    let headerView = tableView.dequeueReusableHeaderFooterViewWithIdentifier(MyHeaderView.reuseIdentifier) as MyHeaderView
    let backgroundView = UIView()
    backgroundView.backgroundColor = UIColor.whiteColor()
    headerView.backgroundView = backgroundView
    headerView.textLabel.text = "hello"
    return headerView
}

---

In iOS 7.0.4 I created a custom header with it's own XIB. Nothing mentioned here before worked. It had to be the subclass of the UITableViewHeaderFooterView to work with the dequeueReusableHeaderFooterViewWithIdentifier: and it seems that class is very stubborn regarding the background color. So finally I added an UIView (you could do it either with code or IB) with name customBackgroudView, and then set it's backgroundColor property. In layoutSubviews: I set that view's frame to bounds. It work with iOS 7 and gives no glitches.

// in MyTableHeaderView.xib drop an UIView at top of the first child of the owner
// first child becomes contentView

// in MyTableHeaderView.h
@property (nonatomic, weak) IBOutlet UIView * customBackgroundView;

// in MyTableHeaderView.m
-(void)layoutSubviews;
{
    [super layoutSubviews];

    self.customBackgroundView.frame = self.bounds;
}
// if you don't have XIB / use IB, put in the initializer:
-(id)initWithReuseIdentifier:(NSString *)reuseIdentifier
{
    ...
    UIView * customBackgroundView = [[UIView alloc] init];
    [self.contentView addSubview:customBackgroundView];
    _customBackgroundView = customBackgroundView;
    ...
}


// in MyTableViewController.m
-(UIView *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView viewForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section
{
    MyTableHeaderView * header = [self.tableView
                                          dequeueReusableHeaderFooterViewWithIdentifier:@"MyTableHeaderView"];
    header.customBackgroundView.backgroundColor = [UIColor redColor];
    return header;
}

---

Just change the color of layer of the header view

- (UIView *) tableView:(UITableView *)tableView viewForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section 
{
  UIView *headerView = [[[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0,    tableView.bounds.size.width, 30)] autorelease];
 headerView.layer.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor].CGColor
}

---

If anyone needs swift, keeps title:

override func tableView(tableView: UITableView, viewForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> UIView? {
    let view = UIView(frame: CGRect(x: 0,y: 0,width: self.tableView.frame.width, height: 30))
    view.backgroundColor = UIColor.redColor()
    let label = UILabel(frame: CGRect(x: 15,y: 5,width: 200,height: 25))
    label.text = self.tableView(tableView, titleForHeaderInSection: section)
    view.addSubview(label)
    return view
}

---

I got message from Xcode through console log

[TableView] Setting the background color on UITableViewHeaderFooterView has been deprecated. Please set a custom UIView with your desired background color to the backgroundView property instead.

Then I just create a new UIView and lay it as background of HeaderView. Not a good solution but it easy as Xcode said.

---

In my case, It worked like this:

let headerIdentifier = "HeaderIdentifier"
let header = self.tableView.dequeueReusableHeaderFooterView(withIdentifier: headerIdentifier)
header.contentView.backgroundColor = UIColor.white

---

Just set the background color of the background view:

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int){         
  let tableHeader = view as! UITableViewHeaderFooterView        
  tableHeader.backgroundView?.backgroundColor = UIColor.white     
}

---

If you are using a custom header view:

class YourCustomHeaderFooterView: UITableViewHeaderFooterView { 

override func awakeFromNib() {
    super.awakeFromNib()
    self.contentView.backgroundColor = .white //Or any color you want
}

}

---