.NET MAUI Shell Navigation

Implement page navigation in .NET MAUI apps using Shell. Shell provides URI-based navigation, a flyout menu, tab bars, and a four-level visual hierarchy — all configured declaratively in XAML.

When to Use

Setting up top-level app navigation with tabs or a flyout menu
Navigating between pages programmatically with
```
GoToAsync
```
Passing data between pages via query parameters or object parameters
Registering detail-page routes for push navigation
Guarding navigation with confirmation dialogs (e.g., unsaved changes)
Customizing back button behavior per page

When Not to Use

Deep linking from external URLs or app links — see .NET MAUI deep linking docs
Data binding on navigation target pages — use
```
maui-data-binding
```
Dependency injection for pages and view models — use
```
maui-dependency-injection
```
Apps using
```
NavigationPage
```
without Shell (different navigation API)

Inputs

A .NET MAUI project with
```
AppShell.xaml
```
as the root shell
Pages (
```
ContentPage
```
) to navigate between
Route names for detail pages not in the visual hierarchy

Shell Visual Hierarchy

Shell uses a four-level hierarchy. Each level wraps the one below it:

Shell
 ├── FlyoutItem / TabBar          (top-level grouping)
 │    ├── Tab                     (bottom-tab grouping)
 │    │    ├── ShellContent        (page slot → ContentPage)
 │    │    └── ShellContent        (multiple = top tabs)
 │    └── Tab
 └── FlyoutItem / TabBar

FlyoutItem — appears in the flyout menu; contains
```
Tab
```
children
TabBar — bottom tab bar with no flyout entry
Tab — groups
```
ShellContent
```
; multiple children produce top tabs
ShellContent — each points to a
```
ContentPage
```

Implicit Conversion

You can omit intermediate wrappers. Shell auto-wraps:

You write	Shell creates
`ShellContent` only	`FlyoutItem > Tab > ShellContent`
`Tab` only	`FlyoutItem > Tab`
`ShellContent` in `TabBar`	`TabBar > Tab > ShellContent`

Workflow: Set Up AppShell

Define
```
AppShell.xaml
```
inheriting from
```
Shell
```
Add
```
FlyoutItem
```
or
```
TabBar
```
elements for top-level navigation
Add
```
Tab
```
elements for bottom tabs; nest multiple
```
ShellContent
```
for top tabs
Always use
ContentTemplate
with
```
DataTemplate
```
so pages load on demand
Register detail-page routes in the
```
AppShell
```
constructor

xml

<Shell xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/dotnet/2021/maui"
       xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2009/xaml"
       xmlns:views="clr-namespace:MyApp.Views"
       x:Class="MyApp.AppShell"
       FlyoutBehavior="Flyout">

    <FlyoutItem Title="Animals" Icon="animals.png">
        <Tab Title="Cats">
            <ShellContent Title="Domestic"
                          ContentTemplate="{DataTemplate views:DomesticCatsPage}" />
            <ShellContent Title="Wild"
                          ContentTemplate="{DataTemplate views:WildCatsPage}" />
        </Tab>
        <Tab Title="Dogs" Icon="dogs.png">
            <ShellContent ContentTemplate="{DataTemplate views:DogsPage}" />
        </Tab>
    </FlyoutItem>

    <TabBar>
        <ShellContent Title="Home" Icon="home.png"
                      ContentTemplate="{DataTemplate views:HomePage}" />
        <ShellContent Title="Settings" Icon="settings.png"
                      ContentTemplate="{DataTemplate views:SettingsPage}" />
    </TabBar>
</Shell>

csharp

// AppShell.xaml.cs
public partial class AppShell : Shell
{
    public AppShell()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
        Routing.RegisterRoute("animaldetails", typeof(AnimalDetailsPage));
        Routing.RegisterRoute("editanimal", typeof(EditAnimalPage));
    }
}

Workflow: Navigate with GoToAsync

All programmatic navigation uses

Shell.Current.GoToAsync

. Always

await

the call.

Route Prefixes

Prefix	Meaning
`//`	Absolute route from Shell root
(none)	Relative; pushes onto the current nav stack
`..`	Go back one level
`../`	Go back then navigate forward

Navigation Examples

csharp

// 1. Absolute — switch to a specific hierarchy location
await Shell.Current.GoToAsync("//animals/cats/domestic");

// 2. Relative — push a registered detail page
await Shell.Current.GoToAsync("animaldetails");

// 3. With query string parameters
await Shell.Current.GoToAsync($"animaldetails?id={animal.Id}");

// 4. Go back one page
await Shell.Current.GoToAsync("..");

// 5. Go back two pages
await Shell.Current.GoToAsync("../..");

// 6. Go back one page, then push a different page
await Shell.Current.GoToAsync("../editanimal");

Workflow: Pass Data Between Pages

Option 1: IQueryAttributable (Preferred)

Implement on ViewModels to receive all parameters in one call:

csharp

public class AnimalDetailsViewModel : ObservableObject, IQueryAttributable
{
    public void ApplyQueryAttributes(IDictionary<string, object> query)
    {
        if (query.TryGetValue("id", out var id))
            AnimalId = id.ToString();
    }
}

Option 2: QueryProperty Attribute

Apply directly on the page class:

csharp

[QueryProperty(nameof(AnimalId), "id")]
public partial class AnimalDetailsPage : ContentPage
{
    public string AnimalId { get; set; }
}

Option 3: Complex Objects via ShellNavigationQueryParameters

Pass objects without serializing to strings:

csharp

var parameters = new ShellNavigationQueryParameters
{
    { "animal", selectedAnimal }
};
await Shell.Current.GoToAsync("animaldetails", parameters);

Receive via

IQueryAttributable

csharp

public void ApplyQueryAttributes(IDictionary<string, object> query)
{
    Animal = query["animal"] as Animal;
}

Workflow: Guard Navigation

Use

GetDeferral()

OnNavigating

for async checks (e.g., "save unsaved changes?"):

csharp

// In AppShell.xaml.cs
protected override async void OnNavigating(ShellNavigatingEventArgs args)
{
    base.OnNavigating(args);
    if (hasUnsavedChanges && args.Source == ShellNavigationSource.Pop)
    {
        var deferral = args.GetDeferral();
        bool discard = await ShowConfirmationDialog();
        if (!discard)
            args.Cancel();
        deferral.Complete();
    }
}

Tab Configuration

Bottom Tabs

Multiple

ShellContent

(or

Tab

) children inside a

TabBar

FlyoutItem

produce bottom tabs.

Top Tabs

Multiple

ShellContent

children inside a single

Tab

produce top tabs:

xml

<Tab Title="Photos">
    <ShellContent Title="Recent"    ContentTemplate="{DataTemplate views:RecentPage}" />
    <ShellContent Title="Favorites" ContentTemplate="{DataTemplate views:FavoritesPage}" />
</Tab>

Tab Bar Appearance

Attached Property	Type	Purpose
`Shell.TabBarBackgroundColor`	`Color`	Tab bar background
`Shell.TabBarForegroundColor`	`Color`	Selected icon color
`Shell.TabBarTitleColor`	`Color`	Selected tab title color
`Shell.TabBarUnselectedColor`	`Color`	Unselected tab icon/title
`Shell.TabBarIsVisible`	`bool`	Show/hide the tab bar

xml

<!-- Hide the tab bar on a specific page -->
<ContentPage Shell.TabBarIsVisible="False" ... />

Flyout Configuration

FlyoutBehavior

Set on

Shell

Disabled

Flyout

, or

Locked

xml

<Shell FlyoutBehavior="Flyout"> ... </Shell>

FlyoutDisplayOptions

Controls how children appear in the flyout:

```
AsSingleItem
```
(default) — one flyout entry for the group
```
AsMultipleItems
```
— each child
```
Tab
```
gets its own entry

xml

<FlyoutItem Title="Animals" FlyoutDisplayOptions="AsMultipleItems">
    <Tab Title="Cats" ... />
    <Tab Title="Dogs" ... />
</FlyoutItem>

MenuItem (Non-Navigation Flyout Entries)

xml

<MenuItem Text="Log Out"
          Command="{Binding LogOutCommand}"
          IconImageSource="logout.png" />

Back Button Behavior

Customize the back button per page:

xml

<Shell.BackButtonBehavior>
    <BackButtonBehavior Command="{Binding BackCommand}"
                       IconOverride="back_arrow.png"
                       TextOverride="Cancel"
                       IsVisible="True" />
</Shell.BackButtonBehavior>

Properties:

Command

CommandParameter

IconOverride

TextOverride

IsVisible

IsEnabled

Inspecting Navigation State

csharp

// Current URI location
string location = Shell.Current.CurrentState.Location.ToString();

// Current page
Page page = Shell.Current.CurrentPage;

// Navigation stack of the current tab
IReadOnlyList<Page> stack = Shell.Current.Navigation.NavigationStack;

Navigation Events

Override in

AppShell

csharp

protected override void OnNavigated(ShellNavigatedEventArgs args)
{
    base.OnNavigated(args);
    // args.Current, args.Previous, args.Source
}

ShellNavigationSource

values:

Push

Pop

PopToRoot

Insert

Remove

ShellItemChanged

ShellSectionChanged

ShellContentChanged

Unknown

Common Pitfalls

Eager page creation: Using
```
Content
```
directly instead of
```
ContentTemplate
```
with
```
DataTemplate
```
creates all pages at Shell init, hurting startup time. Always use
```
ContentTemplate
```
.
Duplicate route names:
```
Routing.RegisterRoute
```
throws
```
ArgumentException
```
if a route name matches an existing route or a visual hierarchy route. Every route must be unique across the app.
Relative routes without registration: You cannot
```
GoToAsync("somepage")
```
unless
```
somepage
```
was registered with
```
Routing.RegisterRoute
```
. Visual hierarchy pages use absolute
```
//
```
routes.
Fire-and-forget GoToAsync: Not awaiting
```
GoToAsync
```
causes race conditions and silent failures. Always
```
await
```
the call.
Wrong absolute route path: Absolute routes must match the full path through the visual hierarchy (
```
//FlyoutItem/Tab/ShellContent
```
). Wrong paths produce silent no-ops, not exceptions.
Manipulating Tab.Stack directly: The navigation stack is read-only. Use
```
GoToAsync
```
for all navigation changes.
Forgetting
GetDeferral()
for async guards: Synchronous cancellation in
```
OnNavigating
```
works, but async checks require
```
GetDeferral()
```
/
```
deferral.Complete()
```
to avoid race conditions.

References

```
references/shell-navigation-api.md
```
— Full API reference for Shell hierarchy, routes, tabs, flyout, and navigation
.NET MAUI Shell Navigation
.NET MAUI Shell Tabs
.NET MAUI Shell Flyout
.NET MAUI Shell Pages

maui-shell-navigation

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

.NET MAUI Shell Navigation

When to Use

When Not to Use

Inputs

Shell Visual Hierarchy

Implicit Conversion

Workflow: Set Up AppShell

Workflow: Navigate with GoToAsync

Route Prefixes

Navigation Examples

Workflow: Pass Data Between Pages

Option 1: IQueryAttributable (Preferred)

Option 2: QueryProperty Attribute

Option 3: Complex Objects via ShellNavigationQueryParameters

Workflow: Guard Navigation

Tab Configuration

Bottom Tabs

Top Tabs

Tab Bar Appearance

Flyout Configuration

FlyoutBehavior

FlyoutDisplayOptions

MenuItem (Non-Navigation Flyout Entries)

Back Button Behavior

Inspecting Navigation State

Navigation Events

Common Pitfalls

References