How to save RecyclerView's scroll position using RecyclerView.State?

Update

Starting from recyclerview:1.2.0-alpha02 release StateRestorationPolicy has been introduced. It could be a better approach to the given problem.

This topic has been covered on android developers medium article.

Also, @rubén-viguera shared more details in the answer below. https://stackoverflow.com/a/61609823/892500

Old answer

If you are using LinearLayoutManager, it comes with pre-built save api linearLayoutManagerInstance.onSaveInstanceState() and restore api linearLayoutManagerInstance.onRestoreInstanceState(...)

With that, you can save the returned parcelable to your outState. e.g.,

outState.putParcelable("KeyForLayoutManagerState", linearLayoutManagerInstance.onSaveInstanceState());

, and restore restore position with the state you saved. e.g,

Parcelable state = savedInstanceState.getParcelable("KeyForLayoutManagerState");
linearLayoutManagerInstance.onRestoreInstanceState(state);

To wrap all up, your final code will look something like

private static final String BUNDLE_RECYCLER_LAYOUT = "classname.recycler.layout";

/**
 * This is a method for Fragment. 
 * You can do the same in onCreate or onRestoreInstanceState
 */
@Override
public void onViewStateRestored(@Nullable Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onViewStateRestored(savedInstanceState);

    if(savedInstanceState != null)
    {
        Parcelable savedRecyclerLayoutState = savedInstanceState.getParcelable(BUNDLE_RECYCLER_LAYOUT);
        recyclerView.getLayoutManager().onRestoreInstanceState(savedRecyclerLayoutState);
    }
}

@Override
public void onSaveInstanceState(Bundle outState) {
    super.onSaveInstanceState(outState);
    outState.putParcelable(BUNDLE_RECYCLER_LAYOUT, recyclerView.getLayoutManager().onSaveInstanceState());
}

Edit: You can also use the same apis with the GridLayoutManager, as it is a subclass of LinearLayoutManager. Thanks @wegsehen for the suggestion.

Edit: Remember, if you are also loading data in a background thread, you will need to a call to onRestoreInstanceState within your onPostExecute/onLoadFinished method for the position to be restored upon orientation change, e.g.

@Override
protected void onPostExecute(ArrayList<Movie> movies) {
    mLoadingIndicator.setVisibility(View.INVISIBLE);
    if (movies != null) {
        showMoviePosterDataView();
        mDataAdapter.setMovies(movies);
      mRecyclerView.getLayoutManager().onRestoreInstanceState(mSavedRecyclerLayoutState);
        } else {
            showErrorMessage();
        }
    }

Store

lastFirstVisiblePosition = ((LinearLayoutManager)rv.getLayoutManager()).findFirstCompletelyVisibleItemPosition();

Restore

((LinearLayoutManager) rv.getLayoutManager()).scrollToPosition(lastFirstVisiblePosition);

and if that doesn't work, try

((LinearLayoutManager) rv.getLayoutManager()).scrollToPositionWithOffset(lastFirstVisiblePosition,0)

Put store in onPause() and restore in onResume()

How do you plan to save last saved position with RecyclerView.State?

You can always rely on ol' good save state. Extend RecyclerView and override onSaveInstanceState() and onRestoreInstanceState():

    @Override
    protected Parcelable onSaveInstanceState() {
        Parcelable superState = super.onSaveInstanceState();
        LayoutManager layoutManager = getLayoutManager();
        if(layoutManager != null && layoutManager instanceof LinearLayoutManager){
            mScrollPosition = ((LinearLayoutManager) layoutManager).findFirstVisibleItemPosition();
        }
        SavedState newState = new SavedState(superState);
        newState.mScrollPosition = mScrollPosition;
        return newState;
    }

    @Override
    protected void onRestoreInstanceState(Parcelable state) {
        super.onRestoreInstanceState(state);
        if(state != null && state instanceof SavedState){
            mScrollPosition = ((SavedState) state).mScrollPosition;
            LayoutManager layoutManager = getLayoutManager();
            if(layoutManager != null){
              int count = layoutManager.getItemCount();
              if(mScrollPosition != RecyclerView.NO_POSITION && mScrollPosition < count){
                  layoutManager.scrollToPosition(mScrollPosition);
              }
            }
        }
    }

    static class SavedState extends android.view.View.BaseSavedState {
        public int mScrollPosition;
        SavedState(Parcel in) {
            super(in);
            mScrollPosition = in.readInt();
        }
        SavedState(Parcelable superState) {
            super(superState);
        }

        @Override
        public void writeToParcel(Parcel dest, int flags) {
            super.writeToParcel(dest, flags);
            dest.writeInt(mScrollPosition);
        }
        public static final Parcelable.Creator<SavedState> CREATOR
                = new Parcelable.Creator<SavedState>() {
            @Override
            public SavedState createFromParcel(Parcel in) {
                return new SavedState(in);
            }

            @Override
            public SavedState[] newArray(int size) {
                return new SavedState[size];
            }
        };
    }