How to add dividers and spaces between items in RecyclerView

October 2016 Update

The version 25.0.0 of Android Support Library introduced the DividerItemDecoration class:

DividerItemDecoration is a RecyclerView.ItemDecoration that can be used as a divider between items of a LinearLayoutManager. It supports both HORIZONTAL and VERTICAL orientations.

Usage:

DividerItemDecoration dividerItemDecoration = new DividerItemDecoration(recyclerView.getContext(),
    layoutManager.getOrientation());
recyclerView.addItemDecoration(dividerItemDecoration);

Previous answer

Some answers either use methods that have since become deprecated, or don't give a complete solution, so I tried to do a short, up-to-date wrap-up.

Unlike ListView, the RecyclerView class doesn't have any divider-related parameters. Instead, you need to extend ItemDecoration, a RecyclerView's inner class:

An ItemDecoration allows the application to add a special drawing and layout offset to specific item views from the adapter's data set. This can be useful for drawing dividers between items, highlights, visual grouping boundaries and more. All ItemDecorations are drawn in the order they were added, before the item views (in onDraw()) and after the items (in onDrawOver(Canvas, RecyclerView, RecyclerView.State).

Vertical spacing ItemDecoration

Extend ItemDecoration, add a custom constructor which takes space height as a parameter and override the getItemOffsets() method:

public class VerticalSpaceItemDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {

    private final int verticalSpaceHeight;

    public VerticalSpaceItemDecoration(int verticalSpaceHeight) {
        this.verticalSpaceHeight = verticalSpaceHeight;
    }

    @Override
    public void getItemOffsets(Rect outRect, View view, RecyclerView parent,
            RecyclerView.State state) {
        outRect.bottom = verticalSpaceHeight;
    }
}

If you don't want to insert space below the last item, add the following condition:

if (parent.getChildAdapterPosition(view) != parent.getAdapter().getItemCount() - 1) {
            outRect.bottom = verticalSpaceHeight;
}

Note: you can also modify outRect.top, outRect.left and outRect.right properties for the desired effect.

Divider ItemDecoration

Extend ItemDecoration and override the onDraw() method:

public class DividerItemDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {

    private static final int[] ATTRS = new int[]{android.R.attr.listDivider};

    private Drawable divider;

    /**
     * Default divider will be used
     */
    public DividerItemDecoration(Context context) {
        final TypedArray styledAttributes = context.obtainStyledAttributes(ATTRS);
        divider = styledAttributes.getDrawable(0);
        styledAttributes.recycle();
    }

    /**
     * Custom divider will be used
     */
    public DividerItemDecoration(Context context, int resId) {
        divider = ContextCompat.getDrawable(context, resId);
    }

    @Override
    public void onDraw(Canvas c, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
        int left = parent.getPaddingLeft();
        int right = parent.getWidth() - parent.getPaddingRight();

        int childCount = parent.getChildCount();
        for (int i = 0; i < childCount; i++) {
            View child = parent.getChildAt(i);

            RecyclerView.LayoutParams params = (RecyclerView.LayoutParams) child.getLayoutParams();

            int top = child.getBottom() + params.bottomMargin;
            int bottom = top + divider.getIntrinsicHeight();

            divider.setBounds(left, top, right, bottom);
            divider.draw(c);
        }
    }
}

You can either call the first constructor that uses the default Android divider attributes, or the second one that uses your own drawable, for example drawable/divider.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
       android:shape="rectangle">
    <size android:height="1dp" />
    <solid android:color="#ff992900" />
</shape>

Note: if you want the divider to be drawn over your items, override the onDrawOver() method instead.

Usage

To use your new class, add VerticalSpaceItemDecoration or DividerSpaceItemDecoration to RecyclerView, for example in your fragment's onCreateView() method:

private static final int VERTICAL_ITEM_SPACE = 48;
private RecyclerView recyclerView;
private LinearLayoutManager linearLayoutManager;
@Override
public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container,
        Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    View rootView = inflater.inflate(R.layout.fragment_feed, container, false);

    recyclerView = (RecyclerView) rootView.findViewById(R.id.fragment_home_recycler_view);
    linearLayoutManager = new LinearLayoutManager(getActivity());
    recyclerView.setLayoutManager(linearLayoutManager);

    //add ItemDecoration
    recyclerView.addItemDecoration(new VerticalSpaceItemDecoration(VERTICAL_ITEM_SPACE));
    //or
    recyclerView.addItemDecoration(new DividerItemDecoration(getActivity()));
    //or
    recyclerView.addItemDecoration(
            new DividerItemDecoration(getActivity(), R.drawable.divider));

    recyclerView.setAdapter(...);

    return rootView;
}

There's also Lucas Rocha's library which is supposed to simplify the item decoration process. I haven't tried it though.

Among its features are:

A collection of stock item decorations including:

Item spacing Horizontal/vertical dividers.

List item

---

Just add

recyclerView.addItemDecoration(new DividerItemDecoration(getContext(),
                DividerItemDecoration.VERTICAL));

Also you may need to add the dependency
implementation 'com.android.support:recyclerview-v7:28.0.0'

For customizing it a little bit you can add a custom drawable:

DividerItemDecoration itemDecorator = new DividerItemDecoration(getContext(), DividerItemDecoration.VERTICAL);
itemDecorator.setDrawable(ContextCompat.getDrawable(getContext(), R.drawable.divider));

You are free to use any custom drawable, for instance:

<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
       android:shape="rectangle">
    <solid android:color="@color/colorPrimary"/>
    <size android:height="0.5dp"/>
</shape>

---

Might I direct your attention to this particular file on GitHub by Alex Fu: https://gist.github.com/alexfu/0f464fc3742f134ccd1e

It's the DividerItemDecoration.java example file "pulled straight from the support demos".(https://plus.google.com/103498612790395592106/posts/VVEB3m7NkSS)

I was able to get divider lines nicely after importing this file in my project and add it as an item decoration to the recycler view.

Here's how my onCreateView look like in my fragment containing the Recyclerview:

@Override
public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container, Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    View rootView = inflater.inflate(R.layout.fragment_recycler_view, container, false);

    mRecyclerView = (RecyclerView) rootView.findViewById(R.id.my_recycler_view);
    mRecyclerView.addItemDecoration(new DividerItemDecoration(getActivity(), DividerItemDecoration.VERTICAL));

    mRecyclerView.setHasFixedSize(true);
    mLayoutManager = new LinearLayoutManager(getActivity());
    mRecyclerView.setLayoutManager(mLayoutManager);
    mRecyclerView.setItemAnimator(new DefaultItemAnimator());

    return rootView;
}

I'm sure additional styling can be done, but it's a starting point. :)

---

A simple ItemDecoration implementation for equal spaces between all items:

public class SpacesItemDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {
    private int space;

    public SpacesItemDecoration(int space) {
        this.space = space;
    }

    @Override
    public void getItemOffsets(Rect outRect, View view, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
        outRect.left = space;
        outRect.right = space;
        outRect.bottom = space;

        // Add top margin only for the first item to avoid double space between items
        if(parent.getChildAdapterPosition(view) == 0) {
            outRect.top = space;
        }
    }
}

---

The simple one is to set the background color for RecyclerView and a different background color for items. Here is an example...

<android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView
    android:background="#ECEFF1"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:scrollbars="vertical"/>

And the TextView item (it can be anything though) with bottom margin "x" dp or px.

<TextView
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:layout_marginBottom="1dp"
    android:background="#FFFFFF"/>

The output...

https://i.stack.imgur.com/hNJFG.png

---

This is simple, and you don't need such complicated code:

DividerItemDecoration divider =
    new DividerItemDecoration(mRVMovieReview.getContext(),
                              DividerItemDecoration.VERTICAL);

divider.setDrawable(ContextCompat.getDrawable(getBaseContext(),
                                              R.drawable.line_divider));

mRVMovieReview.addItemDecoration(divider);

Add this in your drawable: line_divider.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
  android:shape="rectangle">
    <size android:height="1dp" />
    <solid android:color="@android:color/black" />
</shape>

---

The way how I'm handling the Divider view and also Divider Insets is by adding a RecyclerView extension.

1.

Add a new extension file by naming View or RecyclerView:

RecyclerViewExtension.kt

and add the setDivider extension method inside the RecyclerViewExtension.kt file.

/*
* RecyclerViewExtension.kt
* */
import androidx.annotation.DrawableRes
import androidx.core.content.ContextCompat
import androidx.recyclerview.widget.DividerItemDecoration
import androidx.recyclerview.widget.RecyclerView


fun RecyclerView.setDivider(@DrawableRes drawableRes: Int) {
    val divider = DividerItemDecoration(
        this.context,
        DividerItemDecoration.VERTICAL
    )
    val drawable = ContextCompat.getDrawable(
        this.context,
        drawableRes
    )
    drawable?.let {
        divider.setDrawable(it)
        addItemDecoration(divider)
    }
}

2.

Create a Drawable resource file inside of drawable package like recycler_view_divider.xml:

<inset xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:insetLeft="10dp"
    android:insetRight="10dp">

    <shape>
        <size android:height="0.5dp" />
        <solid android:color="@android:color/darker_gray" />
    </shape>

</inset>

where you can specify the left and right margin on android:insetLeft and android:insetRight.

3.

On your Activity or Fragment where the RecyclerView is initialized, you can set the custom drawable by calling:

recyclerView.setDivider(R.drawable.recycler_view_divider)

4.

Cheers 🍺

https://i.stack.imgur.com/jStGN.png

---

As I have set ItemAnimators. The ItemDecorator don't enter or exit along with the animation.

I simply ended up in having a view line in my item view layout file of each item. It solved my case. DividerItemDecoration felt to be too much of sorcery for a simple divider.

<View
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="1px"
    android:layout_marginLeft="5dp"
    android:layout_marginRight="5dp"
    android:background="@color/lt_gray"/>

---

I think using a simple divider will help you

To add divider to each item:

1. Add this to drawable directory line_divider.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:shape="rectangle">
<size
    android:width="1dp"
    android:height="1dp" />
<solid android:color="#999999" />
</shape>

2. Create SimpleDividerItemDecoration class

I used this example to define this class:

https://gist.github.com/polbins/e37206fbc444207c0e92

package com.example.myapp;
import android.content.Context;
import android.content.res.Resources;
import android.graphics.Canvas;
import android.graphics.drawable.Drawable;
import android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView;
import android.view.View;
import com.example.myapp.R;

public class SimpleDividerItemDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration{
    private Drawable mDivider;

    public SimpleDividerItemDecoration(Resources resources) {
        mDivider = resources.getDrawable(R.drawable.line_divider);
    }

    public void onDrawOver(Canvas c, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
        int left = parent.getPaddingLeft();
        int right = parent.getWidth() - parent.getPaddingRight();

        int childCount = parent.getChildCount();
        for (int i = 0; i < childCount; i++) {
            View child = parent.getChildAt(i);

            RecyclerView.LayoutParams params = (RecyclerView.LayoutParams) child.getLayoutParams();

            int top = child.getBottom() + params.bottomMargin;
            int bottom = top + mDivider.getIntrinsicHeight();

            mDivider.setBounds(left, top, right, bottom);
            mDivider.draw(c);
        }
    }
}

3. In activity or fragment that using RecyclerView, inside onCreateView add this:

@Override
public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container,
                         Bundle savedInstanceState) {
 RecyclerView myRecyclerView = (RecyclerView) layout.findViewById(R.id.my_recycler_view);
 myRecyclerView.addItemDecoration(new SimpleDividerItemDecoration(getResources()));
 ....
 }

4. To add spacing between Items

You just need to add padding property to your item view

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:padding="4dp"
>
..... item structure
</RelativeLayout>

---

If anyone is looking to only add, say, 10 dp spacing between items, you can do so by setting a drawable to DividerItemDecoration:

DividerItemDecoration dividerItemDecoration = new DividerItemDecoration(
    recyclerView.getContext(),
    layoutManager.getOrientation()
);

dividerItemDecoration.setDrawable(
    ContextCompat.getDrawable(getContext(), R.drawable.divider_10dp)
);

recyclerView.addItemDecoration(dividerItemDecoration);

Where divider_10dpis a drawable resource containing:

<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" android:shape="rectangle">
    <size android:height="10dp"/>
    <solid android:color="@android:color/transparent"/>
</shape>

---

Since there is no right way to implement this yet properly using Material Design, I just did the following trick to add a divider on the list item directly:

<View
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="1dp"
    android:background="@color/dividerColor"/>

---

Instead of creating a shape xml for changing the divider height and color, you can create it programmatically like:

val divider = DividerItemDecoration(
                  context,
                  DividerItemDecoration.VERTICAL)

divider.setDrawable(ShapeDrawable().apply {
    intrinsicHeight = resources.getDimensionPixelOffset(R.dimen.dp_15)
    paint.color = Color.RED // Note:
                            //   Currently (support version 28.0.0), we
                            //   can not use tranparent color here. If
                            //   we use transparent, we still see a
                            //   small divider line. So if we want
                            //   to display transparent space, we
                            //   can set color = background color
                            //   or we can create a custom ItemDecoration
                            //   instead of DividerItemDecoration.
})

recycler_devices.addItemDecoration(divider)

---

OCTOBER 2016 UPDATE

With support library v25.0.0 there finally is a default implementation of basic horizontal and vertical dividers available!

DividerItemDecoration

---

Add a margin to your view. It worked for me.

android:layout_marginTop="10dp"

If you just want to add equal spacing and want to do it in XML, just set padding to your RecyclerView and equal amount of layoutMargin to the item you inflate into your RecyclerView, and let the background color determine the spacing color.

---

For those who are looking just for spaces between items in the RecyclerView, see my approach where you get equal spaces between all items, except in the first and last items where I gave a bigger padding. I only apply padding to left/right in a horizontal LayoutManager and to top/bottom in a vertical LayoutManager.

public class PaddingItemDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {

    private int mPaddingPx;
    private int mPaddingEdgesPx;

    public PaddingItemDecoration(Activity activity) {
        final Resources resources = activity.getResources();
        mPaddingPx = (int) resources.getDimension(R.dimen.paddingItemDecorationDefault);
        mPaddingEdgesPx = (int) resources.getDimension(R.dimen.paddingItemDecorationEdge);
    }

    @Override
    public void getItemOffsets(Rect outRect, View view, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
        super.getItemOffsets(outRect, view, parent, state);

        final int itemPosition = parent.getChildAdapterPosition(view);
        if (itemPosition == RecyclerView.NO_POSITION) {
            return;
        }
        int orientation = getOrientation(parent);
        final int itemCount = state.getItemCount();

        int left = 0;
        int top = 0;
        int right = 0;
        int bottom = 0;

        /** Horizontal */
        if (orientation == LinearLayoutManager.HORIZONTAL) {
            /** All positions */
            left = mPaddingPx;
            right = mPaddingPx;

            /** First position */
            if (itemPosition == 0) {
                left += mPaddingEdgesPx;
            }
            /** Last position */
            else if (itemCount > 0 && itemPosition == itemCount - 1) {
                right += mPaddingEdgesPx;
            }
        }
        /** Vertical */
        else {
            /** All positions */
            top = mPaddingPx;
            bottom = mPaddingPx;

            /** First position */
            if (itemPosition == 0) {
                top += mPaddingEdgesPx;
            }
            /** Last position */
            else if (itemCount > 0 && itemPosition == itemCount - 1) {
                bottom += mPaddingEdgesPx;
            }
        }

        if (!isReverseLayout(parent)) {
            outRect.set(left, top, right, bottom);
        } else {
            outRect.set(right, bottom, left, top);
        }
    }

    private boolean isReverseLayout(RecyclerView parent) {
        if (parent.getLayoutManager() instanceof LinearLayoutManager) {
            LinearLayoutManager layoutManager = (LinearLayoutManager) parent.getLayoutManager();
            return layoutManager.getReverseLayout();
        } else {
            throw new IllegalStateException("PaddingItemDecoration can only be used with a LinearLayoutManager.");
        }
    }

    private int getOrientation(RecyclerView parent) {
        if (parent.getLayoutManager() instanceof LinearLayoutManager) {
            LinearLayoutManager layoutManager = (LinearLayoutManager) parent.getLayoutManager();
            return layoutManager.getOrientation();
        } else {
            throw new IllegalStateException("PaddingItemDecoration can only be used with a LinearLayoutManager.");
        }
    }
}

File dimens.xml

<resources>
    <dimen name="paddingItemDecorationDefault">10dp</dimen>
    <dimen name="paddingItemDecorationEdge">20dp</dimen>
</resources>

---

Here is a simple hack to add a divider

Just add a background to the layout of your recycler item as follows

Create the following shape_border.xml file in the drawable folder:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
       android:shape="rectangle" >
    <gradient
         android:angle="270"
         android:centerColor="@android:color/transparent"
         android:centerX="0.01"
         android:startColor="#000" />
</shape>

Here is the final result - a RecyclerView with divider.

https://i.stack.imgur.com/lKntv.png

---

This is not a preferred approach. Although @EyesClear answer initiates int's in the onDraw and parent.getChildAdapterPosition(view) != parent.getAdapter().getItemCount() - 1 should probably be parent.getChildAdapterPosition(view) > 0 with outRect.bottom = mVerticalSpaceHeight becoming outRect.top = mVerticalSpaceHeight it should be the accepted answer.

@droppin_science - You can't neglect it by only saying this is not a preferred approach, it gives me accurate results as expected, I also look at EyesClear's answer but that answer is too complicated for a simple divider, however if there is need to do some extra decoration with item then that can be the accepted answer.

For the down voters, this answer was given at the time when there were no official classes for DividerItemDecoration, so just compare the time gap between this answer and following answer given by Leo Droidcoder. :)

This doesn't actually solve the problem, but as a temporary workaround, you can set the useCompatPadding property on the card in your XML layout to make it measure the same as it does on pre-Lollipop versions.

card_view:cardUseCompatPadding="true"

---

I forked the DividerItemDecoration from an older gist and simplified it to fit my use case, and I also modified it to draw the dividers the way they are drawn in ListView, including a divider after the last list item. This will also handle vertical ItemAnimator animations:

1) Add this class to your project:

public class DividerItemDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {
    private static final int[] ATTRS = new int[]{android.R.attr.listDivider};
    private Drawable divider;

    public DividerItemDecoration(Context context) {
        try {
            final TypedArray a = context.obtainStyledAttributes(ATTRS);
            divider = a.getDrawable(0);
            a.recycle();
        } catch (Resources.NotFoundException e) {
            // TODO Log or handle as necessary.
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void getItemOffsets(Rect outRect, View view, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
        super.getItemOffsets(outRect, view, parent, state);
        if (divider == null) return;
        if (parent.getChildAdapterPosition(view) < 1) return;

        if (getOrientation(parent) == LinearLayoutManager.VERTICAL)
            outRect.top = divider.getIntrinsicHeight();
        else
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Only usable with vertical lists");
    }

    @Override
    public void onDrawOver(Canvas c, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
        if (divider == null) {
            super.onDrawOver(c, parent, state);
            return;
        }

        final int left = parent.getPaddingLeft();
        final int right = parent.getWidth() - parent.getPaddingRight();
        final int childCount = parent.getChildCount();

        for (int i = 0; i < childCount; ++i) {
            final View child = parent.getChildAt(i);
            final RecyclerView.LayoutParams params = (RecyclerView.LayoutParams) child.getLayoutParams();
            final int size = divider.getIntrinsicHeight();
            final int top = (int) (child.getTop() - params.topMargin - size + child.getTranslationY());
            final int bottom = top + size;
            divider.setBounds(left, top, right, bottom);
            divider.draw(c);

            if (i == childCount - 1) {
                final int newTop = (int) (child.getBottom() + params.bottomMargin + child.getTranslationY());
                final int newBottom = newTop + size;
                divider.setBounds(left, newTop, right, newBottom);
                divider.draw(c);
            }
        }
    }

    private int getOrientation(RecyclerView parent) {
        if (!(parent.getLayoutManager() instanceof LinearLayoutManager))
            throw new IllegalStateException("Layout manager must be an instance of LinearLayoutManager");
        return ((LinearLayoutManager) parent.getLayoutManager()).getOrientation();
    }
}

2) Add the decorator to your RecylerView:

recyclerView.addItemDecoration(new DividerItemDecoration(getActivity()));

---

I feel like there's a need for a simple, code-based answer that doesn't use XML

DividerItemDecoration dividerItemDecoration = new DividerItemDecoration(recyclerView.getContext(), DividerItemDecoration.VERTICAL);

ShapeDrawable shapeDrawableForDivider = new ShapeDrawable(new RectShape());

int dividerThickness = // (int) (SomeOtherView.getHeight() * desiredPercent);
shapeDrawableForDivider.setIntrinsicHeight(dividerThickness);
shapeDrawableForDivider.setAlpha(0);

dividerItemDecoration.setDrawable(shapeDrawableForDivider);

recyclerView.addItemDecoration(dividerItemDecoration);

I love this answer so much, I re-wrote it in a single-expression Kotlin answer:

    recyclerView.addItemDecoration(DividerItemDecoration(this,DividerItemDecoration.VERTICAL).also { deco ->
        with (ShapeDrawable(RectShape())){
            intrinsicHeight = (resources.displayMetrics.density * 24).toInt()
            alpha = 0
            deco.setDrawable(this)
        }
    })

This does the same thing as @Nerdy's original answer, except it sets the height of the divider to 24dp instead of a percentage of another view's height.

---

Here's a decoration that lets you set a spacing between items as well as a spacing on the edges. This works for both HORIZONTAL and VERTICAL layouts.

class LinearSpacingDecoration(
    @Px private val itemSpacing: Int,
    @Px private val edgeSpacing: Int = 0
): RecyclerView.ItemDecoration() {
    override fun getItemOffsets(outRect: Rect, view: View, parent: RecyclerView, state: RecyclerView.State) {
        val count = parent.adapter?.itemCount ?: 0
        val position = parent.getChildAdapterPosition(view)
        val leading = if (position == 0) edgeSpacing else itemSpacing
        val trailing = if (position == count - 1) edgeSpacing else 0
        outRect.run {
            if ((parent.layoutManager as? LinearLayoutManager)?.orientation == LinearLayout.VERTICAL) {
                top = leading
                bottom = trailing
            } else {
                left = leading
                right = trailing
            }
        }
    }
}

Usage:

recyclerView.addItemDecoration(LinearSpacingDecoration(itemSpacing = 10, edgeSpacing = 20))

---

Taken from a Google search, add this ItemDecoration to your RecyclerView:

public class DividerItemDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {

    private Drawable mDivider;
    private boolean mShowFirstDivider = false;
    private boolean mShowLastDivider = false;


    public DividerItemDecoration(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        final TypedArray a = context
                .obtainStyledAttributes(attrs, new int[]{android.R.attr.listDivider});
        mDivider = a.getDrawable(0);
        a.recycle();
    }

    public DividerItemDecoration(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, boolean showFirstDivider,
                                 boolean showLastDivider) {
        this(context, attrs);
        mShowFirstDivider = showFirstDivider;
        mShowLastDivider = showLastDivider;
    }

    public DividerItemDecoration(Drawable divider) {
        mDivider = divider;
    }

    public DividerItemDecoration(Drawable divider, boolean showFirstDivider,
                                 boolean showLastDivider) {
        this(divider);
        mShowFirstDivider = showFirstDivider;
        mShowLastDivider = showLastDivider;
    }

    @Override
    public void getItemOffsets(Rect outRect, View view, RecyclerView parent,
                               RecyclerView.State state) {

        super.getItemOffsets(outRect, view, parent, state);
        if (mDivider == null) {
            return;
        }
        if (parent.getChildPosition(view) < 1) {
            return;
        }

        if (getOrientation(parent) == LinearLayoutManager.VERTICAL) {
            outRect.top = mDivider.getIntrinsicHeight();
        } else {
            outRect.left = mDivider.getIntrinsicWidth();
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void onDrawOver(Canvas c, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
        if (mDivider == null) {
            super.onDrawOver(c, parent, state);
            return;
        }

        // Initialization needed to avoid compiler warning
        int left = 0, right = 0, top = 0, bottom = 0, size;
        int orientation = getOrientation(parent);
        int childCount = parent.getChildCount();

        if (orientation == LinearLayoutManager.VERTICAL) {
            size = mDivider.getIntrinsicHeight();
            left = parent.getPaddingLeft();
            right = parent.getWidth() - parent.getPaddingRight();
        } else { // Horizontal
            size = mDivider.getIntrinsicWidth();
            top = parent.getPaddingTop();
            bottom = parent.getHeight() - parent.getPaddingBottom();
        }

        for (int i = mShowFirstDivider ? 0 : 1; i < childCount; i++) {
            View child = parent.getChildAt(i);
            RecyclerView.LayoutParams params = (RecyclerView.LayoutParams) child.getLayoutParams();

            if (orientation == LinearLayoutManager.VERTICAL) {
                top = child.getTop() - params.topMargin;
                bottom = top + size;
            } else { // Horizontal
                left = child.getLeft() - params.leftMargin;
                right = left + size;
            }
            mDivider.setBounds(left, top, right, bottom);
            mDivider.draw(c);
        }

        // Show the last divider
        if (mShowLastDivider && childCount > 0) {
            View child = parent.getChildAt(childCount - 1);
            RecyclerView.LayoutParams params = (RecyclerView.LayoutParams) child.getLayoutParams();
            if (orientation == LinearLayoutManager.VERTICAL) {
                top = child.getBottom() + params.bottomMargin;
                bottom = top + size;
            } else { // hHorizontal
                left = child.getRight() + params.rightMargin;
                right = left + size;
            }
            mDivider.setBounds(left, top, right, bottom);
            mDivider.draw(c);
        }
    }

    private int getOrientation(RecyclerView parent) {
        if (parent.getLayoutManager() instanceof LinearLayoutManager) {
            LinearLayoutManager layoutManager = (LinearLayoutManager) parent.getLayoutManager();
            return layoutManager.getOrientation();
        } else {
            throw new IllegalStateException(
                "DividerItemDecoration can only be used with a LinearLayoutManager.");
        }
    }
}

---

This link worked like a charm for me:

https://gist.github.com/lapastillaroja/858caf1a82791b6c1a36

import android.content.Context;
import android.content.res.TypedArray;
import android.graphics.Canvas;
import android.graphics.Rect;
import android.graphics.drawable.Drawable;
import android.support.v7.widget.LinearLayoutManager;
import android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView;
import android.util.AttributeSet;
import android.view.View;

public class DividerItemDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {

    private Drawable mDivider;
    private boolean mShowFirstDivider = false;
    private boolean mShowLastDivider = false;


    public DividerItemDecoration(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        final TypedArray a = context
                .obtainStyledAttributes(attrs, new int[]{android.R.attr.listDivider});
        mDivider = a.getDrawable(0);
        a.recycle();
    }

    public DividerItemDecoration(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, boolean showFirstDivider,
            boolean showLastDivider) {
        this(context, attrs);
        mShowFirstDivider = showFirstDivider;
        mShowLastDivider = showLastDivider;
    }

    public DividerItemDecoration(Drawable divider) {
        mDivider = divider;
    }

    public DividerItemDecoration(Drawable divider, boolean showFirstDivider,
            boolean showLastDivider) {
        this(divider);
        mShowFirstDivider = showFirstDivider;
        mShowLastDivider = showLastDivider;
    }

    @Override
    public void getItemOffsets(Rect outRect, View view, RecyclerView parent,
            RecyclerView.State state) {
        super.getItemOffsets(outRect, view, parent, state);
        if (mDivider == null) {
            return;
        }
        if (parent.getChildPosition(view) < 1) {
            return;
        }

        if (getOrientation(parent) == LinearLayoutManager.VERTICAL) {
            outRect.top = mDivider.getIntrinsicHeight();
        } else {
            outRect.left = mDivider.getIntrinsicWidth();
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void onDrawOver(Canvas c, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
        if (mDivider == null) {
            super.onDrawOver(c, parent, state);
            return;
        }

        // Initialization needed to avoid compiler warning
        int left = 0, right = 0, top = 0, bottom = 0, size;
        int orientation = getOrientation(parent);
        int childCount = parent.getChildCount();

        if (orientation == LinearLayoutManager.VERTICAL) {
            size = mDivider.getIntrinsicHeight();
            left = parent.getPaddingLeft();
            right = parent.getWidth() - parent.getPaddingRight();
        } else { //horizontal
            size = mDivider.getIntrinsicWidth();
            top = parent.getPaddingTop();
            bottom = parent.getHeight() - parent.getPaddingBottom();
        }

        for (int i = mShowFirstDivider ? 0 : 1; i < childCount; i++) {
            View child = parent.getChildAt(i);
            RecyclerView.LayoutParams params = (RecyclerView.LayoutParams) child.getLayoutParams();

            if (orientation == LinearLayoutManager.VERTICAL) {
                top = child.getTop() - params.topMargin;
                bottom = top + size;
            } else { //horizontal
                left = child.getLeft() - params.leftMargin;
                right = left + size;
            }
            mDivider.setBounds(left, top, right, bottom);
            mDivider.draw(c);
        }

        // show last divider
        if (mShowLastDivider && childCount > 0) {
            View child = parent.getChildAt(childCount - 1);
            RecyclerView.LayoutParams params = (RecyclerView.LayoutParams) child.getLayoutParams();
            if (orientation == LinearLayoutManager.VERTICAL) {
                top = child.getBottom() + params.bottomMargin;
                bottom = top + size;
            } else { // horizontal
                left = child.getRight() + params.rightMargin;
                right = left + size;
            }
            mDivider.setBounds(left, top, right, bottom);
            mDivider.draw(c);
        }
    }

    private int getOrientation(RecyclerView parent) {
        if (parent.getLayoutManager() instanceof LinearLayoutManager) {
            LinearLayoutManager layoutManager = (LinearLayoutManager) parent.getLayoutManager();
            return layoutManager.getOrientation();
        } else {
            throw new IllegalStateException(
                    "DividerItemDecoration can only be used with a LinearLayoutManager.");
        }
    }
}

Then in your activity:

mCategoryRecyclerView.addItemDecoration(
    new DividerItemDecoration(this, null));

Or this if you are using a fragment:

mCategoryRecyclerView.addItemDecoration(
    new DividerItemDecoration(getActivity(), null));

---

We can decorate the items using various decorators attached to the recyclerview such as the DividerItemDecoration:

Simply use the following ...taken from the answer byEyesClear:

public class DividerItemDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {

    private static final int[] ATTRS = new int[]{android.R.attr.listDivider};

    private Drawable mDivider;

    /**
     * Default divider will be used
     */
    public DividerItemDecoration(Context context) {
        final TypedArray styledAttributes = context.obtainStyledAttributes(ATTRS);
        mDivider = styledAttributes.getDrawable(0);
        styledAttributes.recycle();
    }

    /**
     * Custom divider will be used
     */
    public DividerItemDecoration(Context context, int resId) {
        mDivider = ContextCompat.getDrawable(context, resId);
    }

    @Override
    public void onDraw(Canvas c, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
        int left = parent.getPaddingLeft();
        int right = parent.getWidth() - parent.getPaddingRight();

        int childCount = parent.getChildCount();
        for (int i = 0; i < childCount; i++) {
            View child = parent.getChildAt(i);

            RecyclerView.LayoutParams params = (RecyclerView.LayoutParams) child.getLayoutParams();

            int top = child.getBottom() + params.bottomMargin;
            int bottom = top + mDivider.getIntrinsicHeight();

            mDivider.setBounds(left, top, right, bottom);
            mDivider.draw(c);
        }
    }
}

And then use the above as follows:

RecyclerView.ItemDecoration itemDecoration = new DividerItemDecoration(this, DividerItemDecoration.VERTICAL_LIST);
recyclerView.addItemDecoration(itemDecoration);

This will display dividers between each item within the list as shown below:

https://i.stack.imgur.com/06d1F.png

And for those of who are looking for more details can check out this guide Using the RecyclerView _ CodePath Android Cliffnotes.

Some answers here suggest the use of margins, but the catch is that:

If you add both top and bottom margins, they will appear both added between items and they will be too large. If you only add either, there will be no margin either at the top or the bottom of the whole list. If you add half of the distance at the top, half at the bottom, the outer margins will be too small.

Thus, the only aesthetically correct solution is the divider that the system knows where to apply properly: between items, but not above or below items.

---

If you want to add the same space for items, the simplest way is to add top+left padding for RecycleView and right+bottom margins to card items.

File dimens.xml

<resources>
    <dimen name="divider">1dp</dimen>
</resources>

File list_item.xml

<CardView
 android:layout_marginBottom="@dimen/divider"
 android:layout_marginRight="@dimen/divider">
 ...
</CardView>

File list.xml

<RecyclerView
 android:paddingLeft="@dimen/divider"
 android:paddingTop="@dimen/divider"
/>

---

For GridLayoutManager I use this:

public class GridSpacesItemDecoration : RecyclerView.ItemDecoration
{
    private int space;

    public GridSpacesItemDecoration(int space) {
        this.space = space;
    }

    public override void GetItemOffsets(Android.Graphics.Rect outRect, View view, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state)
    {
        var position = parent.GetChildLayoutPosition(view);

        /// Only for GridLayoutManager Layouts
        var manager = parent.GetLayoutManager() as GridLayoutManager;

        if (parent.GetChildLayoutPosition(view) < manager.SpanCount)
            outRect.Top = space;

        if (position % 2 != 0) {
            outRect.Right = space;
        }

        outRect.Left = space;
        outRect.Bottom = space;
    }
}

This works for any span count you have.

---

You can easily add it programmatically.

If your Layout Manager is Linearlayout then you can use:

DividerItemDecoration is a RecyclerView.ItemDecoration that can be used as a divider between items of a LinearLayoutManager. It supports both HORIZONTAL and VERTICAL orientations.

mDividerItemDecoration =
  new DividerItemDecoration(recyclerView.getContext(),
                            mLayoutManager.getOrientation());
recyclerView.addItemDecoration(mDividerItemDecoration);

Source

---

In order to accomplish spacing between items in a RecylerView, we can use ItemDecorators:

addItemDecoration(object : RecyclerView.ItemDecoration() {

    override fun getItemOffsets(
        outRect: Rect,
        view: View,
        parent: RecyclerView,
        state: RecyclerView.State,
    ) {
        super.getItemOffsets(outRect, view, parent, state)
        if (parent.getChildAdapterPosition(view) > 0) {
            outRect.top = 8.dp // Change this value with anything you want. Remember that you need to convert integers to pixels if you are working with dps :)
        }
    }
})

A few things to have in consideration given the code I pasted:

You don't really need to call super.getItemOffsets but I chose to, because I want to extend the behavior defined by the base class. If the library got an update doing more logic behind the scenes, we would miss it.

As an alternative to adding top spacing to the Rect, you could also add bottom spacing, but the logic related to getting the last item of the adapter is more complex, so this might be slightly better.

I used an extension property to convert a simple integer to dps: 8.dp. Something like this might work:

val Int.dp: Int
    get() = (this * Resources.getSystem().displayMetrics.density + 0.5f).toInt()

// Extension function works too, but invoking it would become something like 8.dp()

---

I have added a line in a list item like below:

<View
    android:id="@+id/divider"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="1px"
    android:background="@color/dividerColor"/>

"1px" will draw the thin line.

If you want to hide the divider for the last row, then use divider.setVisiblity(View.GONE); on the onBindViewHolder for the last list Item.

---

One of the ways is by using the cardview and recycler view together. We can easily add an effect, like a divider. Example: Create dynamic lists with RecyclerView And another is by adding a view as a divider to a list_item_layout of a recycler view.

---

public class CommonItemSpaceDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {

    private int mSpace = 0;
    private boolean mVerticalOrientation = true;

    public CommonItemSpaceDecoration(int space) {
        this.mSpace = space;
    }

    public CommonItemSpaceDecoration(int space, boolean verticalOrientation) {
        this.mSpace = space;
        this.mVerticalOrientation = verticalOrientation;
    }

    @Override
    public void getItemOffsets(Rect outRect, View view, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
        outRect.top = SizeUtils.dp2px(view.getContext(), mSpace);
        if (mVerticalOrientation) {
            if (parent.getChildAdapterPosition(view) == 0) {
                outRect.set(0, SizeUtils.dp2px(view.getContext(), mSpace), 0, SizeUtils.dp2px(view.getContext(), mSpace));
            } else {
                outRect.set(0, 0, 0, SizeUtils.dp2px(view.getContext(), mSpace));
            }
        } else {
            if (parent.getChildAdapterPosition(view) == 0) {
                outRect.set(SizeUtils.dp2px(view.getContext(), mSpace), 0, 0, 0);
            } else {
                outRect.set(SizeUtils.dp2px(view.getContext(), mSpace), 0, SizeUtils.dp2px(view.getContext(), mSpace), 0);
            }
        }
    }
}

This will add space in every item's top and bottom (or left and right). Then you can set it to your recyclerView.

recyclerView.addItemDecoration(new CommonItemSpaceDecoration(16));

File SizeUtils.java

public class SizeUtils {
    public static int dp2px(Context context, float dpValue) {
        final float scale = context.getResources().getDisplayMetrics().density;
        return (int) (dpValue * scale + 0.5f);
    }
}

---