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Getting Started with WinForms Button

Updated over 6 months ago

This article shows how you can start using RadButton.

Adding Telerik Assemblies Using NuGet

To use RadButton when working with NuGet packages, install the Telerik.UI.for.WinForms.AllControls package. The package target framework version may vary.

Read more about NuGet installation in the Install using NuGet Packages article.

With the 2025 Q1 release, the Telerik UI for WinForms has a new licensing mechanism. You can learn more about it here.

Adding Assembly References Manually

When dragging and dropping a control from the Visual Studio (VS) Toolbox onto the Form Designer, VS automatically adds the necessary assemblies. However, if you're adding the control programmatically, you'll need to manually reference the following assemblies:

Telerik.Licensing.Runtime
Telerik.WinControls
Telerik.WinControls.UI
TelerikCommon

The Telerik UI for WinForms assemblies can be install by using one of the available installation approaches.

Defining the RadButton

You can add RadButton either at design time or at run time:

Design Time

To add a RadButton to your form, drag a RadButton from the toolbox onto the surface of the form designer.
In the Properties section in Visual Studio change the Text property of RadButton.
Double click the button to generate the Click event handler. Add the desired code to perform the required action.
Click F5 to start the application.

Run Time

To programmatically add a RadButton to a form, create a new instance of a RadButton, and add it to the form Controls collection. Subscribe to its Click event in order to perform the required action, e.g. showing a message box:

Adding a RadButton at runtime

C#
RadButton myNewRadButton = new RadButton();
myNewRadButton.Text = "My New RadButton";
myNewRadButton.Width = 150;
myNewRadButton.Height = 50;
this.Controls.Add(myNewRadButton);
myNewRadButton.Click+=myNewRadButton_Click;
VB.NET
Dim myNewRadButton As New RadButton()
myNewRadButton.Text = "My New RadButton"
myNewRadButton.Width = 150
myNewRadButton.Height = 50
Me.Controls.Add(myNewRadButton)
AddHandler myNewRadButton.Click, AddressOf myNewRadButton_Click

C#
private void myNewRadButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    RadMessageBox.Show("Clicked");
}
VB.NET
Private Sub myNewRadButton_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
    RadMessageBox.Show("Clicked")
End Sub