How to: Enable AutoComplete in ToolStrip Controls in Windows Forms

The following procedure combines a ToolStripLabel with a ToolStripComboBox that can be dropped down to show a list of items, such as recently visited Web sites. If the user types a character that matches the first character of one of the items in the list, the item is immediately displayed.

Note
Automatic completion works with ToolStrip controls in the same way that it works with traditional controls such as ComboBox and TextBox.

To enable AutoComplete in a ToolStrip control

1. Create a ToolStrip control and add items to it.

   ToolStrip1 = New System.Windows.Forms.ToolStrip
   ToolStrip1.Items.AddRange(New System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem()_
       {ToolStripLabel1, ToolStripComboBox1})
   

   toolStrip1 = new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStrip();
   toolStrip1.Items.AddRange(new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem[] 
       {toolStripLabel1, toolStripComboBox1});
   

2. Set the Overflow property of the label and the combo box to Never so that the list is always available regardless of the form's size.

   ToolStripLabel1.Overflow = _
       System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItemOverflow.Never
   ToolStripComboBox1.Overflow = _
       System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItemOverflow.Never
   

   toolStripLabel1.Overflow = _
       System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItemOverflow.Never
   toolStripComboBox1.Overflow = System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItemOverflow.Never
   

3. Add words to the Items collection of the ToolStripComboBox control.

   ToolStripComboBox1.Items.AddRange(New Object() {"First Item", _
       "Second Item", "Third Item"})
   

   toolStripComboBox1.Items.AddRange(new object[] {"First item", "Second item", "Third item"});
   

4. Set the AutoCompleteMode property of the combo box to Append.

   ToolStripComboBox1.AutoCompleteMode = _
       System.Windows.Forms.AutoCompleteMode.Append
   

   toolStripComboBox1.AutoCompleteMode = System.Windows.Forms.AutoCompleteMode.Append;
   

5. Set the AutoCompleteSource property of the combo box to ListItems.

   ToolStripComboBox1.AutoCompleteSource = _
       System.Windows.Forms.AutoCompleteSource.ListItems
   

   toolStripComboBox1.AutoCompleteSource = System.Windows.Forms.AutoCompleteSource.ListItems;
   

See Also

Reference

ToolStrip Control Overview (Windows Forms)
ToolStrip
ToolStripLabel
ToolStripComboBox
AutoCompleteMode
AutoCompleteSource

Concepts

ToolStrip Control Architecture
ToolStrip Technology Summary