C# TextBox Controls

Last Updated : 25 Mar, 2025

In Windows forms, TextBox plays an important role. With the help of TextBox, the user can enter data in the application, it can be of a single line or multiple lines. The TextBox is a class and it is defined under System.Windows.Forms namespace.

Ways to Create a TextBox In Windows Forms

There are mainly two ways to create a TextBox in Windows forms which are mentioned below.

Drag and drop (Design-Time)
Custom TextBox (Run-Time)

Drag and drop (Design-Time)

This is the easiest way to create a TextBox in Windows Forms using Visual Studio we just have to open the toolbox and drag and drop the text box on the form in the designer and further we can change the appearance of the TextBox using the properties. Follow these steps to create a TextBox.

Step 1: Now locate the project with the name here we are using the default name which is Form1 and it will open a form in the editor that we can further modify.

In the image, we have two files that are open one Design and there is Form1.cs these two play a major role. We use the Form 1.cs file for the custom logic.

Step 2: Now open a Toolbox go to the view > Toolbox or ctrl + alt + x.

Step 3. Now open the common controls and drag and drop the TextBox on the form where we want to it be placed.

Step 4. Now open the properties of the TextBox press right-click on the TextBox and it will open the properties solution explorer now we can change the button appearance of the textbox and also add different properties like default text.

Output:

Custom TextBox (Run Time)

In this method, we are going to modify the Form1.cs file and add custom code modification in C# with the help of the TextBox class. The following steps show how to create a TextBox dynamically:

Step 1: Create a textbox using the TextBox() constructor provided by the TextBox class.

// Creating textbox

TextBox Mytextbox = new TextBox();

Step 2: After creating TextBox, set the properties of the TextBox provided by the TextBox class.

// Set location of the textbox

Mytextbox.Location = new Point(187, 51);

// Set background color of the textbox

Mytextbox.BackColor = Color.LightGray;

// Set the foreground color of the textbox

Mytextbox.ForeColor = Color.DarkOliveGreen;

// Set the size of the textbox

Mytextbox.AutoSize = true;

// Set the name of the textbox

Mytextbox.Name = “text_box1”;

Step 3: And last add this textbox control to form using Add() method.

// Add this textbox to form

this.Controls.Add(Mytextbox);

Step 4: Now double-click on the form in Design and it will open the Form1.cs file where code is written in C#. Here the program file is Form 1.cs Now write this code in Form1.cs file

Form1.cs file:

namespace WinFormsApp1 {     public partial class Form1 : Form     {         public Form1()         {             InitializeComponent();         }          private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)         {             // Creating and setting the properties of Label             Label myLabel = new Label();             myLabel.Location = new Point(96, 54);             myLabel.Text = "Enter Your Name";             myLabel.AutoSize = true;             myLabel.BackColor = Color.LightGray;              // Add this label to form             this.Controls.Add(myLabel);              // Creating and setting the properties of TextBox             TextBox myTextBox = new TextBox();             myTextBox.Location = new Point(187, 51);             myTextBox.BackColor = Color.LightGray;             myTextBox.ForeColor = Color.DarkOliveGreen;             myTextBox.AutoSize = true;             myTextBox.Name = "textBox1";               // Add this textbox to form             this.Controls.Add(myTextBox);         }     } }

Output:

Properties

Property	Description
Text	This property is used to set the text inside the TextBox.
TextAlign	It is used to Set or get the alignment of the text inside the TextBox for example left, centre, and right.
MaxLength	Used to set or get the maximum number of characters the user can type into the TextBox.
Multiline	This is used to set or determine whether the TextBox allows multiple lines of text. If press enter it allows you to write in the next line.
PasswordChar	It is used to set or get the character used to hide text used where showing the password characters.
ReadOnly	This property is used to set or get whether the TextBox is read-only (users can’t edit the text).
WordWrap	Sets or gets whether the text automatically moves to the next line when it’s too long for the box (only for multiline).
ScrollBars	Sets or gets which type of scroll bars (horizontal, vertical, both, or none) appear in the TextBox.
Dock	Sets or gets how the TextBox is positioned in its container (e.g., fill, top, left).
Anchor	Sets or gets which edges of the parent container the TextBox should stay anchored to when resized.
BorderStyle	Sets or gets the style of the border around the TextBox (e.g., solid line, 3D, no border).
Enabled	Sets or gets whether the TextBox is enabled (if `false`, users can’t interact with it).
Focused	This is the commonly used property to check if the TextBox currently has focus if it is selected.
Font	Sets or gets the font used for the text (like size and style).
ForeColor	Sets or gets the colour of the text inside the TextBox.
BackColor	Sets or gets the background colour of the TextBox.
AcceptsReturn	Sets whether pressing the Enter key adds a new line (used for multi-line TextBox).
HideSelection	Sets whether selected text is hidden when the TextBox loses focus.
SelectionStart	It is used to set from where the selected text starts in the TextBox.
SelectionLength	This property gets or sets the length of the selected text.
ShortcutsEnabled	It sets the keyboard shortcuts such as copy (Ctrl + C) or paste (Ctrl + P).
Clear()	This property is used to clear the text inside the TextBox.
SelectAll()	We can use this property to select all the text inside the TextBox.

How to create Multiline TextBox in C#?

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Article Tags :

C# TextBox Controls

Ways to Create a TextBox In Windows Forms

Drag and drop (Design-Time)

Custom TextBox (Run Time)

Properties

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