Implementing Toast Notifications in WPF

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill whenever the user needs to:

• Display temporary, non-intrusive notifications in WPF applications
• Show status messages (save successful, operation completed, errors)
• Implement notification alerts that auto-dismiss after a timeout
• Create native Windows OS notifications or custom in-app toasts
• Display severity-based messages (Info, Success, Warning, Error)
• Add interactive action buttons to notifications (Reply, Undo, OK)
• Show transient feedback that doesn't block user workflow
• Implement global or window-scoped notifications
• Group related notifications using a unique Group ID for better organization
• Display toasts at custom screen positions for flexible notification placement
• Customize spacing between toasts for tailored notification layout

Component Overview

SfToastNotification is a non-UI control (no XAML required) that displays toast notifications in WPF applications. It supports three display modes:

• Default Mode: Native Windows OS notifications (Windows 10+)
• Window Mode: In-app notifications constrained to window boundaries
• Screen Mode: Global overlay notifications across the screen

Key Characteristics:

• Code-only implementation (no XAML markup needed)
• Static API for showing/closing toasts
• Multiple severity levels with built-in visual styling
• Customizable animations, placement, and templates
• Interactive action buttons with callbacks
• Full template customization support

Documentation and Navigation Guide

Reference Files

• [getting-started.md](references/getting-started.md): Basic setup, NuGet installation, lifecycle management
• [display-modes.md](references/display-modes.md): Default/Window/Screen modes, bootstrapper setup, mode comparison
• [severity-and-variants.md](references/severity-and-variants.md): Severity levels, visual variants, AccentBrush customization
• [placement-and-animations.md](references/placement-and-animations.md): 8 placements, animation types, animation reference
• [action-buttons.md](references/action-buttons.md): Action buttons, callbacks, CloseOnClick, custom templates
• [template-customization.md](references/template-customization.md): TitleTemplate, ContentTemplate, CloseButtonTemplate customization
• [toast-grouping.md](references/toast-grouping.md): Grouping toasts by Group ID, EnableGroupView, GroupContainerHeader customization
• [custom-positioning.md](references/custom-positioning.md): Custom screen positions, X/Y coordinates and HorizontalOffset/VerticalOffset properties
• [custom-spacing.md](references/custom-spacing.md): Customize spacing between toasts, Spacing property

Quick Start Example

Basic Information Toast

using System.Windows;
using Syncfusion.UI.Xaml.SfToastNotification;

namespace ToastDemo
{
    public partial class MainWindow : Window
    {
        public MainWindow()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private void ShowToast_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
        {
            // Simple toast with title and message
            SfToastNotification.Show(this, new ToastOptions
            {
                Mode = ToastMode.Screen,
                Title = "Welcome",
                Message = "Hello! This is your first toast notification."
            });
        }
    }
}

Error Toast with Action Buttons

// Error toast with Retry and Dismiss actions
SfToastNotification.Show(this, new ToastOptions
{
    Title = "Operation Failed",
    Message = "Unable to save your changes. Please try again.",
    Severity = ToastSeverity.Error,
    Mode = ToastMode.Screen,
    Actions = new List<ToastAction>
    {
        new ToastAction("Retry")
        {
            Callback = () => RetryOperation(),
            CloseOnClick = true
        },
        new ToastAction("Dismiss")
        {
            CloseOnClick = true
        }
    }
});

Common Patterns

Native OS Notification

Initialize at startup via WindowsToastBootstrapper.Initialize(), then set Mode = ToastMode.Default.

Key Properties

• Title: Bold text at top (string)
• Message: Main body text (string)
• Mode: Display mode - Default (native OS), Window, or Screen
• Severity: Visual severity - None, Info, Success, Warning, Error
• Duration: Auto-close timeout (default: 6 seconds)
• PreventAutoClose: Disable auto-close (bool)
• Placement: Screen position (8 options: TopLeft, TopCenter, etc.)
• Variant: Visual variant - Text, Outlined, Filled
• AccentBrush: Custom color accent (Brush)
• ShowAnimationType: Show animation (FadeIn, Zoom, Slide, Flip, etc.)
• CloseAnimationType: Hide animation (FadeOut, etc.)
• Actions: Interactive action buttons (List<ToastAction>)
• Id: Unique identifier for management (string)
• GroupName: Group ID for organizing related notifications (string)
• HorizontalOffset: Horizontal adjustment from placement (double)
• VerticalOffset: Vertical adjustment from placement (double)
• X: Absolute horizontal position from left edge when using Custom placement (double)
• Y: Absolute vertical position from top edge when using Custom placement (double)
• Spacing: Custom spacing between toasts in the corner (double)
• EnableGroupView: Enable grouped notification display (bool)
• GroupContainerHeader: Custom header text for grouped notifications (string)