docs-desktop/dotnet-desktop-guide/framework/winforms/controls/how-to-make-your-control-invisible-at-run-time.md

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title	ms.date	dev_langs	helpviewer_keywords	ms.assetid
How to: Make Your Control Invisible at Run Time	03/30/2017	csharp vb	controls [Windows Forms], making invisible at run time invisible controls user controls [Windows Forms], invisible custom controls [Windows Forms], invisible run time [Windows Forms], making controls invisible	69eb2e72-32f5-4f79-a157-c2c5f60c1628

How to: Make Your Control Invisible at Run Time

There are times when you might want to create a user control that is invisible at run time. For example, a control that is an alarm clock might be invisible except when the alarm was sounding. This is easily accomplished by setting the xref:System.Windows.Forms.Control.Visible%2A property. If the xref:System.Windows.Forms.Control.Visible%2A property is true, your control will appear as normal. If false, your control will be hidden. Although code in your control may still run while invisible, you will not be able to interact with the control through the user interface. If you want to create an invisible control that still responds to user input (for example, mouse clicks), you should create a transparent control. For more information, see Giving Your Control a Transparent Background.

To make your control invisible at run time

1. Set the xref:System.Windows.Forms.Control.Visible%2A property to false.

   ' To set the Visible property from within your object's own code.  
   Me.Visible = False  
   ' To set the Visible property from another object.  
   myControl1.Visible = False  
   

   // To set the Visible property from within your object's own code.  
   this.Visible = false;  
   // To set the Visible property from another object.  
   myControl1.Visible = false;  
   

See also

• xref:System.Windows.Forms.Control.Visible%2A
• Developing Custom Windows Forms Controls with the .NET Framework
• How to: Give Your Control a Transparent Background