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Windows Forms Designer in Visual Studio provides a rapid development solution for creating Windows Forms-based applications. Windows Forms Designer lets you easily add controls to a form, arrange them, and write code for their events. For more information about Windows Forms, see Windows Forms overview.
Explore the functionality
Here are some of the tasks you can complete with Windows Forms Designer:
Add components, data controls, or Windows-based controls to a form.
Double-click the form in the designer and write code in the
Loadevent for that form. Double-click a control on the form and write code for the control's default event.Edit a control's Text property by selecting the control and entering a name.
Adjust the placement of the selected control by moving it with the mouse or the arrow keys (Up, Down, Left, Right). Adjust the placement more precisely by selecting Ctrl + the arrow keys. Adjust the size of the control by selecting Shift + the arrow keys.
Access multiple form controls simultaneously with Shift or Ctrl followed by the control shortcut. When you select Shift + <Control shortcut>, the first control you select is the dominant control as you align windows and adjust the size. When you select Ctrl + <Control shortcut>, the last control you select is dominant. This approach allows the dominant control to change to the new control each time you add a control. Another approach is to select multiple controls by dragging a selection rectangle around the controls that you want to select.
Review caution scenarios
When you work with Windows Forms Designer in Visual Studio, exercise caution in the following scenarios:
Windows Forms Designer executes application code when displaying controls or forms on the design surface. To ensure executed application code is safe for your system, open projects only from files and folders configured with trust settings.
Changes to the resource (.resx) file for a form should be made with Windows Forms Designer only and not the Resource Editor. If you edit a form-based .resx file, changes made outside the designer can be lost.
Resources in a .resx file can be serialized by using the BinaryFormatter type. However, this type presents deserialization risks. The type is insecure and not trustworthy. Use Windows Forms Designer to work only with forms and controls that you trust.