---
title: "MainMenu Component Overview"
ms.date: "03/30/2017"
f1_keywords: 
  - "MenuItem"
  - "MainMenu"
helpviewer_keywords: 
  - "MainMenu control [Windows Forms], about MainMenu control"
  - "menus"
ms.assetid: b41cc5a3-cc59-4996-aa3c-8dd9c17d3c90
---
# MainMenu Component Overview (Windows Forms)
> [!IMPORTANT]
> Although <xref:System.Windows.Forms.MenuStrip> and <xref:System.Windows.Forms.ContextMenuStrip> replace and add functionality to the <xref:System.Windows.Forms.MainMenu> and <xref:System.Windows.Forms.ContextMenu> controls of previous versions, <xref:System.Windows.Forms.MainMenu> and <xref:System.Windows.Forms.ContextMenu> are retained for both backward compatibility and future use if you choose.  
  
 The Windows Forms <xref:System.Windows.Forms.MainMenu> component displays a menu at run time. All submenus of the main menu and individual items are <xref:System.Windows.Forms.MenuItem> objects.  
  
## Key Properties  
 A menu item can be designated as the default item by setting the <xref:System.Windows.Forms.MenuItem.DefaultItem%2A> property to `true`. The default item appears in bold text when the menu is clicked. The menu item's <xref:System.Windows.Forms.MenuItem.Checked%2A> property is either `true` or `false`, and indicates whether the menu item is selected. The menu item's <xref:System.Windows.Forms.MenuItem.RadioCheck%2A> property customizes the appearance of the selected item: if <xref:System.Windows.Forms.MenuItem.RadioCheck%2A> is set to `true`, a radio button appears next to the item; if <xref:System.Windows.Forms.MenuItem.RadioCheck%2A> is set to `false`, a check mark appears next to the item.  
  
## See also

- <xref:System.Windows.Forms.MainMenu>
- <xref:System.Windows.Forms.Menu>
- <xref:System.Windows.Forms.MenuItem>
- <xref:System.Windows.Forms.MenuStrip>
- <xref:System.Windows.Forms.ContextMenuStrip>
- [MenuStrip Control Overview](menustrip-control-overview-windows-forms.md)
