How to: Display Windows Forms in the Designer

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Within the Windows Forms Designer, you can view the forms within your project and their controls.

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 view forms in the Windows Forms Designer

  • In Solution Explorer, double-click the form. For details, see Windows Forms Overview.

    If Solution Explorer is not visible, select it from the View menu or press CTRL+W, S.

To view the code for a form

  • In Solution Explorer, select the form and then click the View Code button. You can also right-click the form in Solution Explorer and choose the View Code item in the shortcut menu.

    Note

    Double-clicking a form or its controls in the designer will also switch to the Code Editor, but this will add the default event handler for that control. For example, double-clicking a Button control will show the Code Editor and add the Button_Click event handler. For more information about event handlers, see Event Handlers Overview (Windows Forms).

  • If the designer has focus, press F7 to switch to the Code Editor.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Choose the Startup Form in a Windows Application

Reference

Code and Text Editor
Windows Forms Overview

Concepts

What's New in Windows Forms and Windows Forms Controls

Other Resources

Dialog Boxes in Windows Forms
Creating a New Windows Form