# Message List Alignment

In this cookbook recipe, you'll learn how to customize the alignment of messages in the message list.

By default, the SDK displays your own messages on the right and other users' messages on the left. However, some apps like Slack align all messages to the left, creating a more linear reading experience. You might want to customize message alignment to:

- Match the design patterns of apps like Slack
- Create a unified reading flow for all messages
- Implement a custom chat layout for your use case

To change the message alignment, use the `messageAlignmentProvider` parameter of `ChatTheme`. `ChatTheme` should be the root of all your composables and provides several style properties to its children, including `messageAlignmentProvider` of type `MessageAlignmentProvider`.

Let's provide a custom value for this parameter. We'll pass an anonymous object that implements the `MessageAlignmentProvider` interface, written in the lambda format.

```kotlin
ChatTheme(
    messageAlignmentProvider = { MessageAlignment.Start },
) {
    // ...
    // MessageList is used somewhere down the tree
    // ...
}
```

Below you can see the original list and the customized one.

| Default message alignment                                                       | Left message alignment                                                       |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| ![](/data/docs/chat-sdk/android/v6-latest/_assets/cookbook_message_alignment_default.jpg) | ![](/data/docs/chat-sdk/android/v6-latest/_assets/cookbook_message_alignment_left.jpg) |


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This page was last updated at 2026-03-06T17:03:43.045Z.

For the most recent version of this documentation, visit [https://getstream.io/chat/docs/sdk/android/compose-cookbook/message-list-alignment/](https://getstream.io/chat/docs/sdk/android/compose-cookbook/message-list-alignment/).