PyQt5 – Background image to editable ComboBox when OFF state

Last Updated : 25 Apr, 2025

In this article we will see how we can set background image to the combo box when it is editable and it is in off state. By default combo box has no image although we can set image to it. Background image will appear only when combo box is in editable state and it is in off state. OFF state is when list view is not open. Normal combo box can be made editable with the help of setEditable method.
In order to do this we have to change the style sheet associated with the combo box, below is the style sheet code

QComboBox::editable:!on
{
background-image : url(image.png);
border : 2px solid black;
}

Below is the implementation

Python3

# importing libraries
from PyQt5.QtWidgets import * 
from PyQt5 import QtCore, QtGui
from PyQt5.QtGui import * 
from PyQt5.QtCore import * 
import sys


class Window(QMainWindow):

    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__()

        # setting title
        self.setWindowTitle("Python ")

        # setting geometry
        self.setGeometry(100, 100, 600, 400)

        # calling method
        self.UiComponents()

        # showing all the widgets
        self.show()

    # method for widgets
    def UiComponents(self):
        # creating a check-able combo box object
        self.combo_box = QComboBox(self)

        # making combo box editable
        self.combo_box.setEditable(True)

        # setting geometry of combo box
        self.combo_box.setGeometry(200, 150, 200, 80)

        # geek list
        geek_list = ["Sayian", "Super Sayian", "Super Sayian 2", "Super Sayian B"]

        # adding list of items to combo box
        self.combo_box.addItems(geek_list)

        # setting style sheet of the combo box
        # adding background image to the combo box it is in editable state
        # and when combo box is in off state
        self.combo_box.setStyleSheet("QComboBox::editable:! on"
                                     "{"
                                     "background-image : url(logo.png);"
                                     "border : 2px solid black;"
                                     "}")

# create pyqt5 app
App = QApplication(sys.argv)

# create the instance of our Window
window = Window()

window.show()

# start the app
sys.exit(App.exec())