SSRS Report Viewer 150.1652.0

Question

SSRS Report Viewer 150.1652.0

DoveConnieDES-3786 51

I have an asp.net application that I upgraded the report viewer from version 10 to version 15. It is version 150.1652.0. The export drop down list has an invisible background and the selections are hard to read over the top of the report. I have tried to change the report viewer background color.

This happens in Edge, Chrome and Firefox

This app is not using any plugins

Steps done, was go to Nuget Package Manager, uninstall the old version 10.0 from the application. Install the 150.1652 version from Nuget. Open the report page and make sure the page has the correct Report Viewer.

Tested, report runs good, but the export list has invisible background

![

This is the control on the aspx page

<%@ Register Assembly="Microsoft.ReportViewer.WebForms, Version=15.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=89845dcd8080cc91" Namespace="Microsoft.Reporting.WebForms" TagPrefix="rsweb" %>

 <asp:ScriptManager ID="ScriptManager1" runat="server"></asp:ScriptManager>

    <rsweb:ReportViewer ID="rvWorksheet" runat="server" Height="100%" PageCountMode="Actual" 

        SizeToReportContent="True" Width="100%" BackColor="Gainsboro" AsyncRendering="False">

    </rsweb:ReportViewer>

web.config info

<system.web>

<httpHandlers>

  <add path="Reserved.ReportViewerWebControl.axd" verb="*" type="Microsoft.Reporting.WebForms.HttpHandler, Microsoft.ReportViewer.WebForms, Version=15.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=89845DCD8080CC91" validate="false" />

</httpHandlers>

<compilation debug="true" targetFramework="4.8">

  <assemblies>

    <add assembly="Microsoft.ReportViewer.Common, Version=15.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=89845DCD8080CC91" />

    <add assembly="Microsoft.ReportViewer.WebForms, Version=15.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=89845DCD8080CC91" />

  </assemblies>

  <buildProviders>

    <add extension=".rdlc" type="Microsoft.Reporting.RdlBuildProvider, Microsoft.ReportViewer.WebForms, Version=15.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=89845DCD8080CC91" />

  </buildProviders>

</compilation>

<authentication mode="Windows" />

</system.web>

<system.webServer>

<modules runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests="true" />

<validation validateIntegratedModeConfiguration="false" />

<handlers>

  <add name="ReportViewerWebControlHandler" preCondition="integratedMode" verb="*" path="Reserved.ReportViewerWebControl.axd" type="Microsoft.Reporting.WebForms.HttpHandler, Microsoft.ReportViewer.WebForms, Version=15.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=89845dcd8080cc91" />

</handlers>

</system.webServer>

<assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">

  <dependentAssembly>

    <assemblyIdentity name="Microsoft.SqlServer.Types" publicKeyToken="89845dcd8080cc91" culture="neutral" />

    <bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-17.0.0.0" newVersion="17.0.0.0" />

  </dependentAssembly>

</assemblyBinding>

</runtime>

DoveConnieDES-3786 51 Reputation points

2026-04-03T17:10:39.1633333+00:00

We do have another application set up similar and it also uses the same report viewer, runs on same web server and connects to the same ssrs instance, but the drop down list on it does not have the invisible background so the list shows great. I have not been able to find any differences right off. Any help in where to look is greatly appreciated.

Answer accepted by question author

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DoveConnieDES-3786 51 Reputation points

2026-04-03T17:10:39.1633333+00:00

We do have another application set up similar and it also uses the same report viewer, runs on same web server and connects to the same ssrs instance, but the drop down list on it does not have the invisible background so the list shows great. I have not been able to find any differences right off. Any help in where to look is greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Hi DoveConnieDES-3786 ,

Thanks for reaching out SQL Q&A

It looks like the invisible background on the ReportViewer 15 export dropdown isn’t a problem with SSRS itself, but with how the control’s CSS is being applied in your app. ReportViewer 15 renders its toolbar using modern HTML/CSS, so if your site has global styles that set background: transparent or override ul/li/select/option elements, they can strip out the dropdown’s background. That would explain why one app shows correctly and the other doesn’t, even though they share the same SSRS instance.

A quick way to confirm is to open the broken app in browser dev tools (F12), inspect the dropdown, and check which CSS rules are applied. Compare with the working app’s <head> section and stylesheet references.

As a workaround, you can force the background back with a CSS override:

css

.ReportViewer .MenuBar .MenuItem ul {

background-color: white !important;

color: black !important;

}

Drop this into your site stylesheet or inline on the page. That should restore readability immediately. Then you can refine by identifying and removing the conflicting global style.

Thanks,

Lakshmi.

Answer 2

The behavior is caused by how the new WebForms Report Viewer (v15.x NuGet control) renders its HTML/toolbar in modern browsers, not by the ASP.NET configuration shown. The export dropdown is part of the built‑in HTML viewer toolbar and its appearance is controlled by the control’s own CSS and the page’s global styles.

The HTML viewer toolbar (including the export menu) is not directly customizable from the Report Viewer properties; only which actions/formats appear can be changed. Styling such as the dropdown background is inherited from the page and any global CSS. When upgrading from the legacy v10 control to the v15 NuGet control, existing site CSS can conflict with the new markup and cause effects like a transparent menu background.

To correct the invisible export dropdown background:

Keep using the v15 WebForms NuGet package and the existing web.config/handler configuration (those are already correct for 15.0.0.0).
Add CSS on the page (or in a site stylesheet) that targets the dropdown elements rendered by the toolbar and explicitly sets a background color and text color. For example, add a rule that applies to the menu items inside the Report Viewer area and sets background-color and color to appropriate values.
Ensure no global CSS rule (for example, a rule that sets background-color: transparent on all li, a, or select elements) overrides the Report Viewer’s menu styling. If such a rule exists, scope it away from the Report Viewer container or override it with more specific selectors for the Report Viewer.

If the toolbar itself is not required, another option is to hide the built‑in toolbar and provide custom export UI, but the standard toolbar’s look and feel (including the dropdown) cannot be changed from the control properties alone.

References:

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SSRS Report Viewer 150.1652.0

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