UITableViewHeaderFooterView: Unable to change background color

You should either use myTableViewHeaderFooterView.tintColor, or assign a custom background view to myTableViewHeaderFooterView.backgroundView.

Make sure you set the backgroundColor of the contentView for your UITableViewHeaderFooterView:

self.contentView.backgroundColor = [UIColor whiteColor];

Then it will work.

iOS 8, 9, 10, 11...

The only way to set any color (with any alpha) is to use backgroundView:

Swift

self.backgroundView = UIView(frame: self.bounds)
self.backgroundView.backgroundColor = UIColor(white: 0.5, alpha: 0.5)

Obj-C

self.backgroundView = ({
    UIView * view = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:self.bounds];
    view.backgroundColor = [UIColor colorWithWhite: 0.5 alpha:0.5];
    view;
    });

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Responses to Comments

• None of these other options reliably work (despite the comments below)

  // self.contentView.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
  // self.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
  // self.tintColor = [UIColor clearColor];
  

• the backgroundView is resized automatically. (No need to add constraints)

• Control alpha with UIColor(white: 0.5, alpha: 0.5) or backgroundView.alpha = 0.5.
  (of course, any color will do)

• When using XIB, make root view a UITableViewHeaderFooterView and associate the backgroundView programmatically:

  Register with:

  tableView.register(UINib(nibName: "View", bundle: nil),
                     forHeaderFooterViewReuseIdentifier: "header")
  

  Load with:

  override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView,
                          viewForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> UIView? {
      if let header =
          tableView.dequeueReusableHeaderFooterView(withIdentifier: "header") {
          let backgroundView = UIView(frame: header.bounds)
          backgroundView.backgroundColor = UIColor(white: 0.5, alpha: 0.5)
          header.backgroundView = backgroundView
          return header
      }
      return nil
  }
  

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↻ replay animation

► Find this solution on GitHub and additional details on Swift Recipes.

In iOS 7 contentView.backgroundColor worked for me, tintColor did not.

   headerView.contentView.backgroundColor = [UIColor blackColor];

Though clearColor did not work for me, the solution I found is to set backgroundView property to transparent image. Maybe it will help someone:

UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(CGSizeMake(1, 1), NO, 0.0);
UIImage *blank = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();
UIGraphicsEndImageContext();

headerView.backgroundView = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithImage:blank];