docs-desktop/dotnet-desktop-guide/net/wpf/windows/how-to-open-message-box.md

title, description, ms.date, dev_langs, helpviewer_keywords

title	description	ms.date	dev_langs	helpviewer_keywords
How to display a message box	Learn about how to show a message box in Windows Foundation Presentation (WPF). Message boxes prompt users for a response, allowing the calling window to process that response.	03/15/2021	csharp vb	message boxes [WPF]

How to open a message box (WPF .NET)

A message box is a dialog box that is used to quickly display information and optionally allow users to make decisions. Access to the message box is provided by the xref:System.Windows.MessageBox class. A message box is displayed modally. And the code that displays the message box is paused until the user closes the message box either with the close button or a response button.

The following illustration demonstrates the parts of a message box:

:::image type="content" source="media/how-to-open-message-box/diagram.png" alt-text="A figure that shows the parts of a message box for WPF.":::

• A title bar with a caption (1).
• A close button (2).
• Icon (3).
• Message displayed to the user (4).
• Response buttons (5).

For presenting or gathering complex data, a dialog box might be more suitable than a message box. For more information, see Dialog boxes overview.

Display a message box

To create a message box, you use the xref:System.Windows.MessageBox class. The xref:System.Windows.MessageBox.Show%2A?displayProperty=nameWithType method lets you configure the message box text, title, icon, and buttons, shown in the following code:

:::code language="csharp" source="snippets/how-to-open-message-box/csharp/Window1.xaml.cs" id="YesNoCancel"::: :::code language="vb" source="snippets/how-to-open-message-box/vb/Window1.xaml.vb" id="YesNoCancel":::

The xref:System.Windows.MessageBox.Show%2A?displayProperty=nameWithType method overloads provide ways to configure the message box. These options include:

• Title bar caption
• Message icon
• Message text
• Response buttons

Here are some more examples of using a message box.

• Display an alert.

  :::code language="csharp" source="snippets/how-to-open-message-box/csharp/Window1.xaml.cs" id="AlertSimple"::: :::code language="vb" source="snippets/how-to-open-message-box/vb/Window1.xaml.vb" id="AlertSimple":::

  The previous code displays a message box like the following image:

  :::image type="content" source="media/how-to-open-message-box/alert-simple.png" alt-text="A simple message box for WPF that has no options configured.":::

  It's a good idea to use the options provided by the message box class. Using the same alert as before, set more options to make it more visually appealing:

  :::code language="csharp" source="snippets/how-to-open-message-box/csharp/Window1.xaml.cs" id="Alert"::: :::code language="vb" source="snippets/how-to-open-message-box/vb/Window1.xaml.vb" id="Alert":::

  The previous code displays a message box like the following image:

  :::image type="content" source="media/how-to-open-message-box/alert.png" alt-text="A warning message box for WPF that has an icon, caption, and text.":::

• Display a warning.

  :::code language="csharp" source="snippets/how-to-open-message-box/csharp/Window1.xaml.cs" id="Warning"::: :::code language="vb" source="snippets/how-to-open-message-box/vb/Window1.xaml.vb" id="Warning":::

  The previous code displays a message box like the following image:

  :::image type="content" source="media/how-to-open-message-box/warning.png" alt-text="A simple message box for WPF that has displays a warning icon.":::

• Ask the user a question.

  :::code language="csharp" source="snippets/how-to-open-message-box/csharp/Window1.xaml.cs" id="Prompt"::: :::code language="vb" source="snippets/how-to-open-message-box/vb/Window1.xaml.vb" id="Prompt":::

  The previous code displays a message box like the following image:

  :::image type="content" source="media/how-to-open-message-box/prompt.png" alt-text="A simple message box for WPF that prompts the user with a yes or no question.":::

Handle a message box response

The xref:System.Windows.MessageBox.Show%2A?displayProperty=nameWithType method displays the message box and returns a result. The result indicates how the user closed the message box:

:::code language="csharp" source="snippets/how-to-open-message-box/csharp/Window1.xaml.cs" id="MessageBoxShow"::: :::code language="vb" source="snippets/how-to-open-message-box/vb/Window1.xaml.vb" id="MessageBoxShow":::

When a user presses the buttons at the bottom of the message box, the corresponding xref:System.Windows.MessageBoxResult is returned. However, if the user presses the ESC key or presses the Close button (#2 in the message box illustration), the result of the message box varies based on the button options:

Button options	ESC or Close button result
Ok	Ok
OkCancel	Cancel
YesNo	ESC keyboard shortcut and Close button disabled. User must press Yes or No.
YesNoCancel	Cancel

For more information on using message boxes, see xref:System.Windows.MessageBox and the MessageBox sample.

See also

• Overview of WPF windows
• Dialog boxes overview
• How to display a common dialog box
• MessageBox sample
• xref:System.Windows.MessageBox?displayProperty=fullName
• xref:System.Windows.MessageBox.Show%2A?displayProperty=fullName
• xref:System.Windows.MessageBoxResult?displayProperty=fullName