Creating Colorful Popup Progress Bars in Python with Tkinter, tqdm, and rich

Dynamic progress bars are useful for desktop applications and command‑line tools to show task status. This article demonstrates how to create colorful popup progress bars in Python using the Tkinter GUI library, optionally combined with the tqdm or rich libraries for enhanced visual feedback.

Preparation : Ensure the required packages are installed – pip install tqdm for tqdm and pip install rich for rich.

Example 1 – Basic Tkinter Progress Bar

Creates a simple horizontal progress bar that updates from 0% to 100%.

import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import ttk

def run_progress():
    for i in range(101):
        progress['value'] = i
        root.update_idletasks()
        root.after(50)

root = tk.Tk()
progress = ttk.Progressbar(root, orient='horizontal', length=200, mode='determinate')
progress.pack(pady=20)
button = ttk.Button(root, text='Start', command=run_progress)
button.pack(pady=20)
root.mainloop()

Example 2 – Colored Tkinter Progress Bar

Applies three color styles (red, yellow, green) to the progress bar based on the current percentage.

import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import ttk

def run_progress():
    for i in range(101):
        progress['value'] = i
        if i < 33:
            progress['style'] = 'red.Horizontal.TProgressbar'
        elif i < 66:
            progress['style'] = 'yellow.Horizontal.TProgressbar'
        else:
            progress['style'] = 'green.Horizontal.TProgressbar'
        root.update_idletasks()
        root.after(50)

root = tk.Tk()
style = ttk.Style()
style.theme_use('default')
style.configure('red.Horizontal.TProgressbar', background='red')
style.configure('yellow.Horizontal.TProgressbar', background='yellow')
style.configure('green.Horizontal.TProgressbar', background='green')
progress = ttk.Progressbar(root, orient='horizontal', length=200, mode='determinate')
progress.pack(pady=20)
button = ttk.Button(root, text='Start', command=run_progress)
button.pack(pady=20)
root.mainloop()

Example 3 – Tkinter Progress Bar with tqdm

Shows tqdm's console progress bar while the Tkinter window displays a synchronized progress bar.

import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import ttk
from tqdm import tqdm

def run_progress():
    for i in tqdm(range(101)):
        progress['value'] = i
        root.update_idletasks()
        root.after(50)

root = tk.Tk()
progress = ttk.Progressbar(root, orient='horizontal', length=200, mode='determinate')
progress.pack(pady=20)
button = ttk.Button(root, text='Start', command=run_progress)
button.pack(pady=20)
root.mainloop()

Example 4 – Progress Bar with Text Label

Adds a label below the bar to display the current percentage.

import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import ttk

def run_progress():
    for i in range(101):
        progress['value'] = i
        label.config(text=f'Progress: {i}%')
        root.update_idletasks()
        root.after(50)

root = tk.Tk()
progress = ttk.Progressbar(root, orient='horizontal', length=200, mode='determinate')
progress.pack(pady=20)
label = ttk.Label(root, text='')
label.pack(pady=20)
button = ttk.Button(root, text='Start', command=run_progress)
button.pack(pady=20)
root.mainloop()

Example 5 – Tkinter Progress Bar with rich

Uses rich's track function for console progress while updating the Tkinter bar.

import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import ttk
from rich.progress import track

def run_progress():
    for i in track(range(101), description="Processing..."):
        progress['value'] = i
        root.update_idletasks()
        root.after(50)

root = tk.Tk()
progress = ttk.Progressbar(root, orient='horizontal', length=200, mode='determinate')
progress.pack(pady=20)
button = ttk.Button(root, text='Start', command=run_progress)
button.pack(pady=20)
root.mainloop()

Example 6 – Multithreaded Tkinter Progress Bar

Runs the progress update in a separate thread to keep the UI responsive.

import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import ttk
from threading import Thread

def run_progress():
    for i in range(101):
        progress['value'] = i
        root.update_idletasks()
        root.after(50)

def start_progress():
    thread = Thread(target=run_progress)
    thread.start()

root = tk.Tk()
progress = ttk.Progressbar(root, orient='horizontal', length=200, mode='determinate')
progress.pack(pady=20)
button = ttk.Button(root, text='Start', command=start_progress)
button.pack(pady=20)
root.mainloop()

Example 7 – Custom Styled Progress Bar

Defines a custom style with a black trough and blue background.

import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import ttk

def run_progress():
    for i in range(101):
        progress['value'] = i
        root.update_idletasks()
        root.after(50)

root = tk.Tk()
style = ttk.Style()
style.theme_use('default')
style.configure('Custom.Horizontal.TProgressbar', troughcolor='black', background='blue')
progress = ttk.Progressbar(root, style='Custom.Horizontal.TProgressbar', orient='horizontal', length=200, mode='determinate')
progress.pack(pady=20)
button = ttk.Button(root, text='Start', command=run_progress)
button.pack(pady=20)
root.mainloop()

Example 8 – Tkinter with tqdm Animation

Combines tqdm's console animation with the Tkinter progress bar.

import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import ttk
from tqdm import tqdm

def run_progress():
    for i in tqdm(range(101)):
        progress['value'] = i
        root.update_idletasks()
        root.after(50)

root = tk.Tk()
progress = ttk.Progressbar(root, orient='horizontal', length=200, mode='determinate')
progress.pack(pady=20)
button = ttk.Button(root, text='Start', command=run_progress)
button.pack(pady=20)
root.mainloop()

Example 9 – Tkinter with rich Animation

Shows rich's console progress alongside the Tkinter bar.

import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import ttk
from rich.progress import track

def run_progress():
    for i in track(range(101), description="Processing..."):
        progress['value'] = i
        root.update_idletasks()
        root.after(50)

root = tk.Tk()
progress = ttk.Progressbar(root, orient='horizontal', length=200, mode='determinate')
progress.pack(pady=20)
button = ttk.Button(root, text='Start', command=run_progress)
button.pack(pady=20)
root.mainloop()

Example 10 – Multithreaded Tkinter with rich

Runs rich's progress in a separate thread to keep the GUI responsive.

import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import ttk
from threading import Thread
from rich.progress import track

def run_progress():
    for i in track(range(101), description="Processing..."):
        progress['value'] = i
        root.update_idletasks()
        root.after(50)

def start_progress():
    thread = Thread(target=run_progress)
    thread.start()

root = tk.Tk()
progress = ttk.Progressbar(root, orient='horizontal', length=200, mode='determinate')
progress.pack(pady=20)
button = ttk.Button(root, text='Start', command=start_progress)
button.pack(pady=20)
root.mainloop()

These examples illustrate how to use Tkinter together with tqdm or rich to create a variety of colorful, popup‑style progress bars, which can be adapted and extended to fit specific application requirements.