How to Show the Control Toolbox in Microsoft Visual Basic

Like a real toolbox, Visual Basic's Toolbox holds the tools you need to do your best work.

You can create professional applications for the Web, a desktop and mobile devices using Microsoft's latest version of Visual Basic. Powered by the .NET Framework, Visual Basic comes with a rich set of pre-built code libraries and an extensive set of tools. These tools live in the Toolbox, and you can drag them into your user interface quickly. Learning how to show and manage the Toolbox is essential to mastering Visual Basic application development.

Instructions

1. Open Visual Studio and click "New Project."

2. Click the "Visual Basic" button on the left side of the window, and then click "Windows Form Application" on the right side of the window.

3. Type a name for the project in the "Name" text box, and click "OK" to create a new Visual Basic project. Visual Studio will create a new project and display the project files in the "Solution Explorer" panel. An empty form will appear in the "Design" pane.

4. Click the "View" button at the top of the screen, and select "Toolbox." The Toolbox will open and display its controls.

Tips & Warnings

• To hide the Toolbox automatically, click the "AutoHide" button at the top of the Toolbox window. The Toolbox will collapse into a small vertical bar on the left side of the Visual Studio screen. Hover your mouse over the bar to make the Toolbox reappear. AutoHide behavior is useful when you don't want the Toolbox to cover the form in your work area. Click the "Floating" button at the top of the Toolbox and drag it to a new location to reposition it.

References

• Microsoft MSDN: Getting Started With Visual Basic
• Microsoft MSDN: How to Use the Toolbox (Visual Studio)

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Microsoft MSDN: Visual Basic Language Reference