docs-desktop/dotnet-desktop-guide/net/winforms/input-mouse/how-to-distinguish-between-clicks-and-double-clicks.md

title, description, ms.date, dev_langs, helpviewer_keywords

title	description	ms.date	dev_langs	helpviewer_keywords
How to distinguish between single and double clicks	Describes different ways to detect the difference between a single or double click with a control or form for Windows Forms for .NET.	10/26/2020	csharp vb	mouse [Windows Forms], click mouse [Windows Forms], double-click mouse clicks [Windows Forms], single versus double

How to distinguish between clicks and double-clicks (Windows Forms .NET)

Typically, a single click initiates a user interface action and a double-click extends the action. For example, one click usually selects an item, and a double-click edits the selected item. However, the Windows Forms click events do not easily accommodate a scenario where a click and a double-click perform incompatible actions, because an action tied to the xref:System.Windows.Forms.Control.Click or xref:System.Windows.Forms.Control.MouseClick event is performed before the action tied to the xref:System.Windows.Forms.Control.DoubleClick or xref:System.Windows.Forms.Control.MouseDoubleClick event. This topic demonstrates two solutions to this problem.

[!INCLUDE desktop guide under construction]

One solution is to handle the double-click event and roll back the actions in the handling of the click event. In rare situations you may need to simulate click and double-click behavior by handling the xref:System.Windows.Forms.Control.MouseDown event and by using the xref:System.Windows.Forms.SystemInformation.DoubleClickTime%2A and xref:System.Windows.Forms.SystemInformation.DoubleClickSize%2A properties of the xref:System.Windows.Forms.SystemInformation class. You measure the time between clicks and if a second click occurs before the value of xref:System.Windows.Forms.SystemInformation.DoubleClickTime%2A is reached and the click is within a rectangle defined by xref:System.Windows.Forms.SystemInformation.DoubleClickSize%2A, perform the double-click action; otherwise, perform the click action.

To roll back a click action

Ensure that the control you are working with has standard double-click behavior. If not, enable the control with the xref:System.Windows.Forms.Control.SetStyle%2A method. Handle the double-click event and roll back the click action as well as the double-click action. The following code example demonstrates a how to create a custom button with double-click enabled, as well as how to roll back the click action in the double-click event handling code.

This code example uses a new button control that enables double-clicks:

:::code language="csharp" source="snippets/how-to-distinguish-between-clicks-and-double-clicks/csharp/DoubleClickButton.cs" id="DoubleClickButton"::: :::code language="vb" source="snippets/how-to-distinguish-between-clicks-and-double-clicks/vb/DoubleClickButton.vb" id="DoubleClickButton":::

The following code demonstrates how a form changes the style of border based on a click or double-click of the new button control:

:::code language="csharp" source="snippets/how-to-distinguish-between-clicks-and-double-clicks/csharp/Form1.cs" id="RollbackForm"::: :::code language="vb" source="snippets/how-to-distinguish-between-clicks-and-double-clicks/vb/Form1.vb" id="RollbackForm":::

To distinguish between clicks

Handle the xref:System.Windows.Forms.Control.MouseDown event and determine the location and time span between clicks using the xref:System.Windows.Forms.SystemInformation property and a xref:System.Windows.Forms.Timer component. Perform the appropriate action depending on whether a click or double-click takes place. The following code example demonstrates how this can be done.

:::code language="csharp" source="snippets/how-to-distinguish-between-clicks-and-double-clicks/csharp/Form2.cs"::: :::code language="vb" source="snippets/how-to-distinguish-between-clicks-and-double-clicks/vb/Form2.vb":::

See also

• Overview of using the mouse (Windows Forms .NET)
• Using mouse events (Windows Forms .NET)
• Manage mouse pointers (Windows Forms .NET)
• How to simulate mouse events (Windows Forms .NET)
• xref:System.Windows.Forms.Control.Click?displayProperty=nameWithType
• xref:System.Windows.Forms.Control.MouseDown?displayProperty=nameWithType
• xref:System.Windows.Forms.Control.SetStyle%2A?displayProperty=nameWithType