How to set a new root view controller

Question

I wonder if its possible to set a new root VC?

My app gets init with a uinavigation controller that has a table view to be the root VC.

Then from the table view I am running another segue to a login window (present modally) If you then login you end up in the red VC/account page. What I want to do now is to set the red VC to be the new root VC of the app, and remove all underlying VC's. So that I can show a menu button/icon instead of a "Back" button

I have found this but I dont understand how to use it:

let storyboard: UIStoryboard = UIStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle: NSBundle.mainBundle())
        let yourViewController: ViewController = storyboard.instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier("respectiveIdentifier") as! ViewController

        let navigationController = self.window?.rootViewController as! UINavigationController
        navigationController.setViewControllers([yourViewController], animated: true)

But I cannot get it to work. So is it possible to make the red vc in the picture act as the new root VC.

Vashum · Accepted Answer · 2019-03-11 09:34:51Z

49

Swift 4.2

May be you should try this

let mainStoryBoard = UIStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle: nil)
let redViewController = mainStoryBoard.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "respectiveIdentifier") as! ViewController
let appDelegate = UIApplication.shared.delegate as! AppDelegate
appDelegate.window?.rootViewController = redViewController

edited Mar 11, 2019 at 9:34

answered Oct 28, 2015 at 12:33

Vashum

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well... it doesn't crash. but for me, nothing happens here. no new view will be loaded
– David Seek
Commented Sep 1, 2016 at 9:10
6

My problem is the new view controller replace the old one. But the view controller stacks still be kept. Don't know where those view controller stacks coming from.
– Bagusflyer
Commented Jun 24, 2017 at 8:26
1

For ppl who used SceneDelegate, refer stackoverflow.com/questions/56588843/…
– Bubu
Commented Jan 5, 2020 at 13:18

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Olcay Ertaş · Accepted Answer · 2020-12-19 09:06:10Z

36

Swift 4, 5, 5.1

let story = UIStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle:nil)
let vc = story.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "NewViewController") as! NewViewController
UIApplication.shared.windows.first?.rootViewController = vc
UIApplication.shared.windows.first?.makeKeyAndVisible()

edited Dec 19, 2020 at 9:06

Olcay Ertaş

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answered Nov 2, 2019 at 14:29

Sandeep Maurya

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1

Thank you so much. !! It's help me a lots.
– Mab KaaKoo
Commented May 20, 2020 at 6:45
The makeKeyAndVisible do the trick! Thanks
– Massimo Pavanel
Commented May 19, 2021 at 16:01

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footyapps27 · Accepted Answer · 2017-03-09 11:46:29Z

23

Swift 3 Update:-

let testController = UIStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle: nil).instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "testController") as! TestController
let appDelegate = UIApplication.shared.delegate as! AppDelegate
appDelegate.window?.rootViewController = testController

answered Mar 9, 2017 at 11:46

footyapps27

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Works for me Thanks
– Govindharaj Murugan
Commented Jun 14, 2018 at 13:35
This does not remove the previous view from underneath...
– dub
Commented Aug 12, 2021 at 22:49

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ajw · Accepted Answer · 2018-01-05 19:30:30Z

9

Swift 4 Answer

let storyBoard : UIStoryboard = UIStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle:nil)
let nextViewController = storyBoard.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "YourViewController") as! YourViewController
let navigationController = UINavigationController(rootViewController: nextViewController)            
let appdelegate = UIApplication.shared.delegate as! AppDelegate
appdelegate.window!.rootViewController = navigationController

answered Jan 5, 2018 at 19:30

ajw

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how can u instantiate root view controller with navigation bar...I'm not getting it
– Ephrim Daniel
Commented May 7, 2019 at 4:49
1

what to do in xcode 11. there is no window property in appdelegate
– Paresh. P
Commented Nov 30, 2019 at 5:33

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Olcay Ertaş · Accepted Answer · 2020-12-19 09:08:18Z

UINavigationController has a viewControllers property, which is a NSArray, And you can replaced it with your own NSArray of view controllrs.

This can be done as show in below sample code.

let newViewController = self.storyboard?.instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier("YourViewControllerollerID") as! YourViewController
let customViewControllersArray : NSArray = [newViewController]
navigationController?.viewControllers = customViewControllersArray as! [UIViewController]

And if you want to show this new root view controller you can just call UINavigationController's popToRootViewController() method.

navigationController?.popToRootViewControllerAnimated(true)

Amelia · Accepted Answer · 2016-05-11 22:13:55Z

In order to get the code snippet from the original question to work, I had to make a change to the third line

let navigationController = self.navigationController!

I am using this code in an @IBAction in the view controller that precedes the new root view controller.

Using the original code, I was receiving an error saying that my view controller had no member called window. After looking at the documentation, I could find no property named window. I'm wondering if the original block of code above was intended to be used inside a UINavigationController file.

Here is the block in its entirety.

let storyboard: UIStoryboard = UIStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle: NSBundle.mainBundle())
let todayViewController: TodaysFrequencyViewController = storyboard.instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier("todaysFrequency") as! TodaysFrequencyViewController    
let navigationController = self.navigationController!
navigationController.setViewControllers([todayViewControl ler], animated: true)

Caleb · Accepted Answer · 2015-10-27 17:41:04Z

4

I wonder if its possible to set a new root VC?

Yes, it's possible. How you do it depends on the context...

My app gets init with a uinavigation controller that has a table view to be the root VC.

There are actually two things that are commonly called the "root view controller":

UIWindow has a rootViewController property, which is writeable.
UINavigationController has no rootViewController property, but it does have an initializer called -initWithRootViewController:. You can set the nav controller's "root" view controller by setting it's viewControllers property.

It sounds like you're trying to change the window's root view controller, but the code you show only changes the nav controller's viewControllers property. Try setting the window's rootViewController property directly. Understand, however, that if you take that approach then the navigation controller will go away too. If you want to keep the nav controller, on the other hand, go with your current approach.

But I cannot get it to work. So is it possible to make the red vc in the picture act as the new root VC.

More information here would be helpful. What do you mean by "cannot get it to work"? What happens, and what do you expect to happen?

answered Oct 27, 2015 at 17:41

Caleb

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After your explination I think I should change the window root instead. But if I do that can I then add a new uinavigation controller and also remove all old views? Eg VC's opened by modal segue
– user2722667
Commented Oct 27, 2015 at 17:49
In story board I have also checked "Is initial VC" on the navigation controller
– user2722667
Commented Oct 27, 2015 at 17:54
You can, but if your nav controller is already the window's root view controller, and if you want a nav controller and don't need the current stack of view controllers, then why not keep the nav controller you have? IOW, your current approach is reasonable -- if it's not working, you should provide more info about that. How do you know it doesn't work? What does navigationController.viewControllers show after you set it?
– Caleb
Commented Oct 27, 2015 at 17:55
I get the error "MyViewController" has no member named view. Where/how exactly should I implement the code when making the transition to the new VC that should become the new root?
– user2722667
Commented Oct 27, 2015 at 18:12
Every view controller has a view property, so if you're getting that message the object you're messaging is not a proper view controller. Make sure that your ViewController class is derived from UIViewController, for a start.
– Caleb
Commented Oct 27, 2015 at 21:24

| Show 1 more comment

Rubaiyat Jahan Mumu · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-11 05:22:32Z

For swift 4.0.

In your AppDelegate.swift file in didfinishedlaunchingWithOptions method, put the following code.

var window: UIWindow?


func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplicationLaunchOptionsKey: Any]?) -> Bool {
    window = UIWindow(frame: UIScreen.main.bounds)
    window?.makeKeyAndVisible()

    let rootVC = MainViewController() // your custom viewController. You can instantiate using nib too. UIViewController(nib name, bundle)

    let navController = UINavigationController(rootViewController: rootVC) // Integrate navigation controller programmatically if you want
    window?.rootViewController = navController

    return true
}

Hope it will work just fine.

Navdeep Paliwal · Accepted Answer · 2021-06-20 06:49:55Z

For Swift 5 Users you can do this way and this will definitely work for you.

var window: UIWindow?

func scene(_ scene: UIScene, willConnectTo session: UISceneSession, options connectionOptions: UIScene.ConnectionOptions) {
    // Use this method to optionally configure and attach the UIWindow `window` to the provided UIWindowScene `scene`.
    // If using a storyboard, the `window` property will automatically be initialized and attached to the scene.
    // This delegate does not imply the connecting scene or session are new (see `application:configurationForConnectingSceneSession` instead).
    manageLoginSession()
    guard let _ = (scene as? UIWindowScene) else { return }
}

func manageLoginSession() {
    guard let window = window else {return}
    if UserDefaults.standard.bool(forKey: "_key_AlreadyLogin") == true {
        window.rootViewController = UIStoryboard(name: "Dashboard", bundle: nil).instantiateInitialViewController()
    }else{
        window.rootViewController = UIStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle: nil).instantiateInitialViewController()
    }
}

Mudith Chathuranga Silva · Accepted Answer · 2015-10-28 12:08:04Z

2

You can use this code when you click the login button :-

let mainStoryboard: UIStoryboard = UIStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle: nil)
var vc = mainStoryboard.instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier("respectiveIdentifier") as ViewController  
UIApplication.sharedApplication().keyWindow.rootViewController = vc

answered Oct 28, 2015 at 12:08

Mudith Chathuranga Silva

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ArturOlszak · Accepted Answer · 2016-05-11 21:47:01Z

2

How and from where are you presenting redVC?

You could make it root view controller of your UINavigationController, so you would still have ability to push and pop view controllers.

self.navigationController?.viewControllers = [self];

answered May 11, 2016 at 21:47

ArturOlszak

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Markus · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-07 10:43:53Z

2

You can use this bit of code:

let newViewController = self.storyboard?.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "HomeViewController") as! HomeViewController

let customViewControllersArray : NSArray = [newViewController]
self.navigationController?.viewControllers = customViewControllersArray as! [UIViewController]
self.navigationController?.pushViewController(newViewController, animated: true)

edited Sep 7, 2017 at 10:43

Markus

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answered Sep 7, 2017 at 10:20

Deepti Raghav

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1

Can you please explain why your code helps answering the OP's question?
– Markus
Commented Sep 7, 2017 at 10:27
1

if HomeViewController is your root view controller so you can set it as root view controller by using pushViewController
– Deepti Raghav
Commented Sep 9, 2017 at 5:20

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Amrit Sidhu · Accepted Answer · 2019-02-04 15:50:16Z

If you need to set rootViewController with some animations, here is the code:

guard let window = UIApplication.shared.keyWindow else {
    return
}

guard let rootViewController = window.rootViewController else {
    return
}

let storyboard = UIStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle: nil)
let vc = storyboard.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "MainTabbar")
vc.view.frame = rootViewController.view.frame
vc.view.layoutIfNeeded()

UIView.transition(with: window, duration: 0.3, options: .transitionCrossDissolve, animations: {
    window.rootViewController = vc
}, completion: { completed in
    // maybe do something here
})

user8637708 · Accepted Answer · 2022-05-02 11:37:39Z

2

For Swift 5 and above this may work for you.

if let delegate = UIApplication.shared.connectedScenes.first?.delegate as? SceneDelegate {
        
        delegate.window?.rootViewController = newViewController
        delegate.window?.makeKeyAndVisible()
        
}

answered May 2, 2022 at 11:37

user8637708

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Priyank Patel · Accepted Answer · 2022-07-02 17:40:29Z

Swift 4,5

Use this below code for RootViewController

    let storyBoard : UIStoryboard = UIStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle:nil)
    let mainViewController = storyBoard.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "MainViewController") as! MainViewController
    let navigationController = UINavigationController(rootViewController: nextViewController)            
    if let window = UIApplication.shared.delegate?.window {
        window?.rootViewController = navigationController
     }

MLBDG · Accepted Answer · 2017-08-19 18:05:55Z

0

once you are in the vc that you want to set as root, just add in your viewDidLoad:

let appDelegate = UIApplication.shared.delegate as! AppDelegate
appDelegate.window?.rootViewController = self

*As per best practice you should check if it is already the root, if not execute the code above.

answered Aug 19, 2017 at 18:05

MLBDG

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Deepak Tagadiya · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-04 11:05:27Z

Swift 3 AppDelegate file:::

@IBAction func btnGoBack(_ sender: UIButton){

   self.goToHomeVC()
}

func goToHomeVC(){

    let storyboard = UIStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle: nil)

    let viewController = storyboard.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier :"HomeVC") as! HomeVC

    let navController = UINavigationController.init(rootViewController: viewController)

    if let window = self.appDelegate.window, let rootViewController = window.rootViewController {

        var currentController = rootViewController

        while let presentedController = currentController.presentedViewController {

            currentController = presentedController
        }

        currentController.present(navController, animated: true, completion: nil)
    }
}

Anirudha Mahale · Accepted Answer · 2018-01-08 14:40:45Z

You can try out this code

func switchRootViewController(rootViewController: UIViewController, animated: Bool, completion: (() -> Void)?) {
    guard let window = UIApplication.shared.keyWindow else { return }
    if animated {
        UIView.transition(with: window, duration: 0.5, options: .transitionCrossDissolve, animations: {
            let oldState: Bool = UIView.areAnimationsEnabled
            UIView.setAnimationsEnabled(false)
            window.rootViewController = rootViewController
            UIView.setAnimationsEnabled(oldState)
        }, completion: { (finished: Bool) -> () in
            if (completion != nil) {
                completion!()
            }
        })
    } else {
        window.rootViewController = rootViewController
    }
}

Talha Rasool · Accepted Answer · 2020-01-12 12:19:10Z

0

Any view controller you want to set root just call the below function like

  UIApplication.shared.setRootVC(vc)

  extension UIApplication {

    func setRootVC(_ vc : UIViewController){

        self.windows.first?.rootViewController = vc
        self.windows.first?.makeKeyAndVisible()

      }
  }

answered Jan 12, 2020 at 12:19

Talha Rasool

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Muhammad Aakif · Accepted Answer · 2020-07-31 16:13:45Z

0

Just write this and you are good to go.

let sb = UIStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle: nil)
let VC = sb.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "LoginViewController") as! LoginViewController
let navRootView = UINavigationController(rootViewController: VC)
self.present(navRootView, animated: true, completion: nil)

answered Jul 31, 2020 at 16:13

Muhammad Aakif

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Please explain why this works. What is the issue and why this resolves it.
– Rahul Bhobe
Commented Jul 31, 2020 at 18:20
UInavigationController has a property which allows user to set its root view controller so here we are setting our VC to the top of current navigation stack and making it a root view controller
– Muhammad Aakif
Commented Aug 1, 2020 at 20:44

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Navdeep Paliwal · Accepted Answer · 2020-08-18 01:29:35Z

0

This is how you can set the nib as root view controller.

 let vc = HomeViewController(nibName: "HomeViewController", bundle: nil)
 window = UIWindow(frame: UIScreen.main.bounds)
 window?.rootViewController = vc
 window?.makeKeyAndVisible()

answered Aug 18, 2020 at 1:29

Navdeep Paliwal

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Olcay Ertaş · Accepted Answer · 2020-12-19 09:07:12Z

Link to a related question

This answer applies to usage of an existing ViewController from somewhere in the current stack without instantiating and reconfiguring a new controller.

The documentation says: The root view controller provides the content view of the window. Assigning a view controller to this property (either programmatically or using Interface Builder) installs the view controller’s view as the content view of the window. The new content view is configured to track the window size, changing as the window size changes. If the window has an existing view hierarchy, the old views are removed before the new ones are installed.

Just as the documentation says: It removes all views in the stack if the rootViewController is exchanged. No matter what's with the controller. So remove the ViewController from the stack to assure its view won't be removed.

This resulted in my case in the following solution:

if let appDelegate = UIApplication.shared.delegate as? AppDelegate {
    guard let pageVC = self.onboardingDelegate as? OnboardingPageViewController else { return } // my current stack is in a pageViewController, it also is my delegate
    let vc = self // holding myself
    pageVC.subViewControllers.removeLast() // removing myself from the list
    pageVC.setViewControllers([pageVC.subViewControllers[0]], direction: .forward, animated: false, completion: nil) // remove the current presented VC
    appDelegate.window?.rootViewController = vc
    vc.onboardingDelegate = nil
    appDelegate.window?.makeKeyAndVisible()
}

Olcay Ertaş · Accepted Answer · 2020-12-19 09:07:33Z

0

Swift 4

 let storyBoard = UIStoryboard(name: "Your_Storyboard_Name", bundle:Bundle.main)
 self.window = UIWindow(frame: UIScreen.main.bounds)
 let yourVc = storyBoard.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "YourIdentifier") as? YourViewController
 if let window = window {
     window.rootViewController = yourVc
 }
 window?.makeKeyAndVisible()

edited Dec 19, 2020 at 9:07

Olcay Ertaş

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answered Oct 26, 2017 at 9:08

Sandeep Kakde

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M Murteza · Accepted Answer · 2021-06-18 13:25:14Z

Swift 4,5 and above If you Use Multiple or single Story board you want to set Different Root view controller of Navigation Controler then I use This Method: In My case StoryBaord Name is Auth.

    func setRootToLogin(transition :CATransition) {
    let storyboard = UIStoryboard(name: "Auth", bundle: nil)
    let loginNav =  storyboard.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "AuthNavigationController") as! UINavigationController
    window.set(rootViewController: loginNav, withTransition: transition)
    let vc =  window.rootViewController as! UINavigationController
    let loginvc = LoginViewController.instantiateAuth()
    vc.setViewControllers([loginvc], animated: true)
}

Shakeel Ahmed · Accepted Answer · 2024-07-09 13:25:26Z

Swift 5+ IOS 13+

extension UIViewController {
    var appDelegate: AppDelegate {
         return UIApplication.shared.delegate as! AppDelegate
    }

    var sceneDelegate: SceneDelegate? {
        guard let windowScene = UIApplication.shared.connectedScenes.first as? UIWindowScene,             
        let delegate = windowScene.delegate as? SceneDelegate else { return nil }
            return delegate
        }
}



//Calling Method
    let storyBoard : UIStoryboard = UIStoryboard(name: "Home", bundle:nil)
    if let navigationController = storyBoard.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "NavigationHomeViewController") as? UINavigationController {
        self.sceneDelegate?.window?.rootViewController = navigationController
    }

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