Nextion Display Complete Programming Guide: Master the Nextion Editor in 2025

What is Nextion Editor?

Nextion Editor is the official free software for designing user interfaces for Nextion HMI displays. It's a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor that lets you create professional touchscreen interfaces without complex programming.

Installation

1. Download Nextion Editor from nextion.tech
2. Run the installer (Windows only, use Wine on Mac/Linux)
3. Launch Nextion Editor from Start menu
4. Create a new project and select your display model

Editor Interface

UI Components

Basic Components

• Text (t0, t1...) - Static or dynamic text labels
• Number (n0, n1...) - Numeric values with formatting
• Button (b0, b1...) - Clickable buttons with states
• Picture (p0, p1...) - Image display from memory
• Crop (q0, q1...) - Partial image display

Advanced Components

• Progress Bar (j0) - Horizontal/vertical progress
• Gauge (z0) - Circular meter display
• Slider (h0) - User-adjustable value input
• Waveform (s0) - Real-time data plotting
• Timer (tm0) - Periodic code execution

Nextion Instruction Set

Nextion uses a simple instruction set. Here are the most common commands:

// Change text
t0.txt="Hello World"

// Change number value
n0.val=123

// Change component color
t0.pco=RED // or use number: t0.pco=63488

// Navigate to another page
page 1 // or: page pagename

// Send data to MCU
print "data"
printh 65 01 02 03 // hex values

// Variables
va0.val=100
sys0=50 // system variable

// Conditional
if(bt0.val==1) {
 t0.txt="ON"
} else {
 t0.txt="OFF"
}

Display Models

Arduino Integration

#include <SoftwareSerial.h>

SoftwareSerial nextion(2, 3); // RX, TX

void setup() {
 nextion.begin(9600);
 delay(500);
 // Set text on display
 nextion.print("t0.txt=\"Hello\"");
 nextion.write(0xFF);
 nextion.write(0xFF);
 nextion.write(0xFF);
}

void loop() {
 // Read touch events
 if (nextion.available()) {
 // Handle incoming data
 }
}