Large gap forms between RecyclerView items when scrolling down

change in Recycler view match_parent to wrap_content:

<android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView
    android:id="@+id/recyclerView"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"/>

Also change in item layout xml

Make parent layout height match_parent to wrap_content

<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content">

        <TextView
            android:id="@+id/textView"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        />

This happened to me many times!

All you need to do is... make layout_height of row file wrap_content and your problem solved..

android:layout_height="wrap_content"

Happy coding!

Luksprog's answer to Gabriele Mariotti's answer works.

According to the doc

With the release 2.3.0 there is an exciting new feature to the LayoutManager API: auto-measurement! This allows a RecyclerView to size itself based on the size of its contents. >This means that previously unavailable scenarios, such as using WRAP_CONTENT >for a dimension of the RecyclerView, are now possible. You’ll find all built in LayoutManagers now support auto-measurement.

Due to this change, make sure to double check the layout parameters of your item views: previously ignored layout parameters (such as MATCH_PARENT in the scroll direction) will now be fully respected.

In your item layout you have to change:

android:layout_height="match_parent"

with

android:layout_height="wrap_content" 

Its because you are using match_parent in height of root view of the row item in your vertically oriented listview/recyclerview. When you use that the item expands completely wrt to its parent. Use wrap_content for height when the recyclerview is vertically oriented and for width when it is horizantally oriented.