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DropdownButtonFormField retains selected value even after setting value to null #169983

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DropdownButtonFormField retains selected value even after setting value to null#169983
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P2Important issues not at the top of the work listf: material designflutter/packages/flutter/material repository.found in release: 3.32Found to occur in 3.32found in release: 3.33Found to occur in 3.33frameworkflutter/packages/flutter repository. See also f: labels.has reproducible stepsThe issue has been confirmed reproducible and is ready to work onteam-designOwned by Design Languages teamtriaged-designTriaged by Design Languages team
@gags-21

Description

@gags-21
gags-21
opened on Jun 4, 2025

Steps to reproduce

For better understanding, run the DartPad example and follow these steps:

  1. Use DropdownButtonFormField with items: ['cat1', 'cat2', 'add category'].
  2. Select 'add category', which triggers a function that attempts to clear the selected value (value = null).
    • At this point, the dropdown still displays 'add category' as the selected value.
  3. Now, select another option (e.g., 'cat1' or 'cat2') to set a new value.
  4. Then select 'add category' again. This time, the same function clears the dropdown value correctly.

✅ If you replace DropdownButtonFormField with DropdownButton, the dropdown clears as expected in both attempts.

Expected results

The DropdownButtonFormField should immediately reflect the cleared state (i.e., no selected item) when its value is set to null, regardless of the dropdown’s previous selection.

Actual results

When value = null is triggered after selecting 'add category' directly, the dropdown continues to display 'add category' as the selected item.

Only after selecting a different value first (e.g., 'cat1'), and then selecting 'add category', does the DropdownButtonFormField correctly clear the selection and reflect the null state.

This behavior is inconsistent and does not occur when using DropdownButton, where clearing the value works immediately.

Code sample

Code sample

https://dartpad.dev/208899f83112c026a433958529ee4fef

Screenshots or Video

Screenshots / Video demonstration

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Logs

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Flutter Doctor output

Doctor output 
[✓] Flutter (Channel stable, 3.32.0, on macOS 15.3.2 24D81 darwin-arm64, locale en-IN) [4.6s]
    • Flutter version 3.32.0 on channel stable at /Users/Library/flutter
    • Upstream repository https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git
    • Framework revision be698c48a6 (2 weeks ago), 2025-05-19 12:59:14 -0700
    • Engine revision 1881800949
    • Dart version 3.8.0
    • DevTools version 2.45.1

[✓] Android toolchain - develop for Android devices (Android SDK version 36.0.0) [6.6s]
    • Android SDK at /Users/Library/Android/sdk
    • Platform android-36, build-tools 36.0.0
    • Java binary at: /Applications/Android Studio
      Preview.app/Contents/jbr/Contents/Home/bin/java
      This is the JDK bundled with the latest Android Studio installation on this machine.
      To manually set the JDK path, use: `flutter config --jdk-dir="path/to/jdk"`.
    • Java version OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 21.0.6+-13391695-b895.109)
    • All Android licenses accepted.

[✓] Xcode - develop for iOS and macOS (Xcode 16.4) [6.9s]
    • Xcode at /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
    • Build 16F6
    • CocoaPods version 1.16.2

[✓] Chrome - develop for the web [55ms]
    • Chrome at /Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome

[✓] Android Studio (version 2025.1.2) [53ms]
    • Android Studio at /Applications/Android Studio Preview.app/Contents
    • Flutter plugin can be installed from:
      🔨 https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/9212-flutter
    • Dart plugin can be installed from:
      🔨 https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/6351-dart
    • Java version OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 21.0.6+-13391695-b895.109)

[✓] Android Studio (version 2024.3) [51ms]
    • Android Studio at /Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents
    • Flutter plugin can be installed from:
      🔨 https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/9212-flutter
    • Dart plugin can be installed from:
      🔨 https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/6351-dart
    • Java version OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 21.0.6+-13368085-b895.109)

[✓] IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition (version 2024.1.6) [50ms]
    • IntelliJ at /Applications/IntelliJ IDEA CE.app
    • Flutter plugin can be installed from:
      🔨 https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/9212-flutter
    • Dart plugin can be installed from:
      🔨 https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/6351-dart

[✓] VS Code (version 1.100.2) [17ms]
    • VS Code at /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents
    • Flutter extension version 3.112.0

[✓] Connected device (3 available) [7.3s]
    • iPhone 16 Plus (mobile) • 0EA0F927-2B4A-441B-8D4A-A3289AAB4ACA • ios            •
      com.apple.CoreSimulator.SimRuntime.iOS-18-5 (simulator)
    • macOS (desktop)         • macos                                • darwin-arm64   • macOS 15.3.2 24D81
      darwin-arm64
    • Chrome (web)            • chrome                               • web-javascript • Google Chrome
      137.0.7151.56

[✓] Network resources [467ms]
    • All expected network resources are available.

• No issues found!

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    P2Important issues not at the top of the work listf: material designflutter/packages/flutter/material repository.found in release: 3.32Found to occur in 3.32found in release: 3.33Found to occur in 3.33frameworkflutter/packages/flutter repository. See also f: labels.has reproducible stepsThe issue has been confirmed reproducible and is ready to work onteam-designOwned by Design Languages teamtriaged-designTriaged by Design Languages team

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