How to Remove the Settings Icon from the Action Bar Overflow Menu

How can I eliminate the settings icon from the overflow menu in the top-right corner of the action bar in my Android application?

// Example code snippet to remove menu item in onCreateOptionsMenu
@Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
    // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
    getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main_menu, menu);

    // Remove the settings icon (menu item) by its ID
    MenuItem settingsItem = menu.findItem(R.id.action_settings);
    if (settingsItem != null) {
        settingsItem.setVisible(false);
    }
    return true;
}

The overflow menu in an Android app's action bar sometimes contains a settings icon by default or as part of the menu options. If you want to remove it, you can do so programmatically within your activity or fragment.

// Remove settings icon in the Action Bar
@Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
    getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main_menu, menu);
    // Hide settings icon
    MenuItem settingsItem = menu.findItem(R.id.action_settings);
    if (settingsItem != null) settingsItem.setVisible(false);
    return true;
}

Causes

• The settings icon is added by default in the menu resource file.
• The menu item corresponding to the settings icon is unintentionally set to visible.

Solutions

• Locate the menu resource file where the action settings icon is defined and comment it out or delete it from the XML.
• Within the `onCreateOptionsMenu` method of your activity, find the menu item using its ID and set its visibility to false as shown in the provided code snippet.

Mistake: Failing to call `setVisible(false)` on the correct menu item ID.

Solution: Ensure that the ID matches the one defined in your menu XML.

Mistake: Assuming the settings icon is only in the layout rather than also in the menu XML.

Solution: Check both your activity layout and the menu resource files for the settings icon.