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Articles / Desktop Programming / Windows Forms

Easily Add a Ribbon into a WinForms Application

7 Aug 2019Ms-PL2 min read 2.3M   38.1K   618   655
Easily add a ribbon to a WinForms application

Style 2007

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Style 2010

Image 2

Style 2013

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Background

The ribbon that is going to be used in this article is an open source project created by Jose Menendez Poo. However, the original author of the ribbon has stopped support of it. A group of fans of this ribbon re-host and continue to develop/enhance and support the ribbon.

The original ribbon creator has posted an article explaining what this ribbon is all about at [A Professional Ribbon You Will Use (Now with orb!)]. However, that article doesn't describe how to use it in your project. Therefore, this article will show how to use it.

How to Use this Ribbon Control

The ribbon class library can be added via Nuget. Right click your project and go to "Manage Nuget Packages..."

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Search "RibbonWinForms" and install the nuget package.

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Drag the ribbon control into the form.

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Click "Add Tab".

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Click "Add Panel".

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Showing the commands of the "Panel":

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Click the command and add the controls you want.

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Changing the icon and button text label.

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Adding the "Click" event.

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Type the commands that you wish to do in the event block.

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Now, try run the application.

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Example of using RibbonForm style.

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Replace the inheritance of "Form":

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to "RibbonForm".

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Note

Some behaviour of "RibbonForm" might not be working properly in some unknown circumstances. We recommended that you to perform the test in your environment before delivering your application into production.

Alternative Ribbon Control

Windows Ribbon Framework
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/windowsribbon/-uiplat-windowsribbon-entry 
Support Windows 7 onwards

Krypton WinForms components for .NET
https://github.com/ComponentFactory/Krypton

RibbonLib
https://github.com/ennerperez/RibbonLib 
https://www.nuget.org/packages/RibbonLib

Windows Ribbon for WinForms
https://github.com/ennerperez/RibbonLib 
http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/arik/2010/11/08/windows-ribbon-for-winforms-v26-released/ 
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/55599/Windows-Ribbon-for-WinForms-Part-0-Table-of-Conten

Ribbon by Juan Pablo G.C.
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/18449/An-easy-way-to-add-a-Ribbon-Panel-Office-2007-styl 
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/19044/The-new-RibbonForm-RibbonRoundButton-and-FastMenu

History

  • 8th August, 2019: Publish Nuget Package, several bug fixes
  • 12th April, 2012: Initial version

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Microsoft Public License (Ms-PL)


Written By
Product Manager
United States United States
- I've been programming Windows and Web apps since 1997.
- My greatest concern nowadays is product, user interface, and usability.
- TypeScript / React expert

@geeksplainer

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Programming is an art.

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Written By
Software Developer (Senior)
United States United States
Lead Software Engineer on a paperless office / workflow system. I specialize in building custom user controls and components that are using in my everyday software. I've also worked with Neural Networks for character recognition on documents in my paperless office software.

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Comments and Discussions

 
BugPassword chars not working Pin
Holger Jung1-Jan-23 22:43
Holger Jung1-Jan-23 22:43 
BugRibbon crashes with OutOfMemoryException Pin
Holger Jung1-Jan-23 22:39
Holger Jung1-Jan-23 22:39 
QuestionCan't click the close button Pin
Süleyman ÜSTÜN21-Sep-22 2:35
Süleyman ÜSTÜN21-Sep-22 2:35 
QuestionRibbonForm style Pin
Jo_vb.net19-Dec-21 4:37
mvaJo_vb.net19-Dec-21 4:37 
BugIMPORTANT Pin
Member 1494675923-Sep-20 3:44
Member 1494675923-Sep-20 3:44 
QuestionNot showing on Toolbox Pin
Koop the Koopa9-Aug-20 8:54
Koop the Koopa9-Aug-20 8:54 
AnswerRe: Not showing on Toolbox Pin
otto2009a26-Oct-21 7:13
otto2009a26-Oct-21 7:13 
GeneralRe: Not showing on Toolbox Pin
adriancs27-Oct-21 4:23
mvaadriancs27-Oct-21 4:23 
QuestionHow to programmatically change to specific Tab? Pin
Luis Mendez28-Mar-20 13:07
Luis Mendez28-Mar-20 13:07 
QuestionRibbon is not showing in the toolbox. Pin
Member 127963157-Dec-19 9:54
Member 127963157-Dec-19 9:54 
AnswerRe: Ribbon is not showing in the toolbox. Pin
Alister Morton14-Apr-21 21:51
Alister Morton14-Apr-21 21:51 
QuestionNuGet Ribbon Control Pin
Member 1336888012-Sep-19 19:33
Member 1336888012-Sep-19 19:33 
QuestionBoton_Click Pin
Member 1451403611-Aug-19 21:18
Member 1451403611-Aug-19 21:18 
AnswerRe: Boton_Click Pin
adriancs12-Aug-19 4:37
mvaadriancs12-Aug-19 4:37 
GeneralMy vote of 3 Pin
Member 42464749-Aug-19 16:32
Member 42464749-Aug-19 16:32 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
dmjm-h9-Aug-19 12:00
dmjm-h9-Aug-19 12:00 
Great product. I love how people across the globe co-operated to make it happen.
SuggestionAnother Winforms Ribbon option. Pin
gardner90329-Aug-19 9:59
gardner90329-Aug-19 9:59 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
Franc Morales8-Aug-19 22:07
Franc Morales8-Aug-19 22:07 
QuestionVery nice example for ribbon menu Pin
Mou_kol8-Aug-19 20:41
Mou_kol8-Aug-19 20:41 
QuestionLast thing doesn't work Pin
Jordan Ferrazza16-May-19 19:12
Jordan Ferrazza16-May-19 19:12 
QuestionHow to Add dynamic rib button Pin
Radhakrishnan V13-May-19 20:52
Radhakrishnan V13-May-19 20:52 
Questionorb button not work on RTL Pin
mm.ebrahimi28-Nov-18 17:52
mm.ebrahimi28-Nov-18 17:52 
QuestionTabindex Pin
KANNABICUS14-Sep-18 7:35
KANNABICUS14-Sep-18 7:35 
Praiseyour work is ingenious... Pin
marcelo iván rojas hernández13-Jul-18 5:49
marcelo iván rojas hernández13-Jul-18 5:49 
QuestionBlue window border when containing Form inherits from Ribbon instead of inheriting from Form and Black Tab names background when changing orb style at runtime Pin
maultby9-Jul-18 22:30
maultby9-Jul-18 22:30 

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