How to: Position Controls on Windows Forms

To position controls, use the Windows Forms Designer, or specify the Location property.

Note

The dialog boxes and menu commands you see might differ from those described in Help depending on your active settings or edition. To change your settings, choose Import and Export Settings on the Tools menu. For more information, see Visual Studio Settings.

To position a control on the design surface of the Windows Forms Designer

• Drag the control to the appropriate location with the mouse.

  Note

  Select the control and move it with the ARROW keys to position it more precisely. Also, snaplines assist you in placing controls precisely on your form. For more information, see Walkthrough: Arranging Controls on Windows Forms Using Snaplines.

To position a control using the Properties window

1. Click the control you want to position.

2. In the Properties window, type values for the Location property, separated by a comma, to position the control within its container.

   The first number (X) is the distance from the left border of the container; the second number (Y) is the distance from the upper border of the container area, measured in pixels.

   Note

   You can expand the Location property to type the X and Y values individually.

To position a control programmatically

1. Set the Location property of the control to a Point.

   Button1.Location = New Point(100, 100)
   

   button1.Location = new Point(100, 100);
   

   button1.set_Location(new Point(100, 100));
   

   button1->Location = Point(100, 100);
   

2. Change the X coordinate of the control's location using the Left subproperty.

   Button1.Left = 300
   

   button1.Left = 300;
   

   button1.set_Left(500);
   

   button1->Left = 300;
   

To increment a control's location programmatically

• Set the Left subproperty to increment the X coordinate of the control.

  Button1.Left += 200
  

  button1.Left += 200;
  

  button1.set_Left(button1.get_Left() + 200);
  

  button1->Left += 200;
  

  Note

  Use the Location property to set a control's X and Y positions simultaneously. To set a position individually, use the control's Left (X) or Top (Y) subproperty. Do not try to implicitly set the X and Y coordinates of the Point structure that represents the button's location, because this structure contains a copy of the button's coordinates.

See Also

Tasks

Walkthrough: Arranging Controls on Windows Forms Using Snaplines
Walkthrough: Arranging Controls on Windows Forms Using a TableLayoutPanel
Walkthrough: Arranging Controls on Windows Forms Using a FlowLayoutPanel

Reference

Windows Forms Controls by Function

Other Resources

Windows Forms Controls
Arranging Controls on Windows Forms
Labeling Individual Windows Forms Controls and Providing Shortcuts to Them
Controls to Use on Windows Forms