How to display menu item with icon and text in AppCompatActivity

@Override    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {        // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.//        getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.menu_patient_home_screen, menu);        menu.add(0, 1, 1, menuIconWithText(getResources().getDrawable(R.mipmap.user_2), getResources().getString(R.string.action_profile)));        menu.add(0, 2, 2, menuIconWithText(getResources().getDrawable(R.mipmap.add_user), getResources().getString(R.string.action_add_user)));        menu.add(0, 3, 3, menuIconWithText(getResources().getDrawable(R.mipmap.switch_profile), getResources().getString(R.string.action_switch_profile)));        menu.add(0, 4, 4, menuIconWithText(getResources().getDrawable(R.mipmap.logout), getResources().getString(R.string.action_sign_out)));        return true;    }    @Override    public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {        // Handle action bar item clicks here. The action bar will        // automatically handle clicks on the Home/Up button, so long        // as you specify a parent activity in AndroidManifest.xml.        int id = item.getItemId();        //noinspection SimplifiableIfStatement        switch (item.getItemId()) {            case 1:                Toast.makeText(PatientHomeScreen.this, "Profile is Clicked", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();                return true;            case 2:                Toast.makeText(PatientHomeScreen.this, "Add New User is Clicked", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();                return true;            case 3:                Toast.makeText(PatientHomeScreen.this, "Switch Profile is Clicked", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();                return true;            case 4:                Toast.makeText(PatientHomeScreen.this, "Sign Out is Clicked", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();                return true;        }        return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);    }    private CharSequence menuIconWithText(Drawable r, String title) {        r.setBounds(0, 0, r.getIntrinsicWidth(), r.getIntrinsicHeight());        SpannableString sb = new SpannableString("    " + title);        ImageSpan imageSpan = new ImageSpan(r, ImageSpan.ALIGN_BOTTOM);        sb.setSpan(imageSpan, 0, 1, Spannable.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE);        return sb;    }

Hope this will help you

You need to add tools:context="your class" to menu tag

menu.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"   xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"   xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"   tools:context=".activities.BaseActivity">   <item       android:id="@+id/action_notification1"       android:icon="@drawable/three"       android:title="action_notification"       app:showAsAction="always">       <menu>           <item               android:id="@+id/profile"               android:icon="@drawable/profile"               android:orderInCategory="100"               android:title="PROFILE" />           <item               android:id="@+id/c"               android:icon="@drawable/correct_tick"               android:orderInCategory="100"               android:title="COMPLETED TRIPS" />           <item               android:id="@+id/app"               android:icon="@drawable/report_issue"               android:orderInCategory="100"               android:title="REPORT ISSUES" />           <item               android:id="@+id/r"               android:icon="@drawable/correct_tick"               android:orderInCategory="100"               android:title="REACHED CENTER" />           <item               android:id="@+id/pdf"               android:icon="@drawable/pdf_image"               android:orderInCategory="100"               android:title="BAG INFO" />           <item               android:id="@+id/l"               android:icon="@drawable/logout"               android:orderInCategory="100"               android:title="LOGOUT" />       </menu>   </item></menu>

Override onCreateOptionsMenu() Method

@Override public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {    getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main, menu);     menu.getItem(0).getSubMenu().getItem(3).setVisible(false);    menu.getItem(0).getSubMenu().getItem(4).setVisible(true);    return super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu);} 

You should write tool:context to menu tag then run you will get icons before your text.

Adding to the answer from dev_ry, there is a much smoother way without using reflection by just casting and suppressing the restricted API warning:

import android.support.v7.view.menu.MenuBuilder;@SuppressLint("RestrictedApi")@Overridepublic boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {    if (menu instanceof MenuBuilder) {        ((MenuBuilder) menu).setOptionalIconsVisible(true);    }    getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.menu, menu);    return super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu);}