WinForms RadDock Overview

Updated on Jun 22, 2026

RadDock lets you build Visual Studio-style workspaces in a WinForms application. Use it to host dockable tool windows, tabbed documents, floating panes, and persisted layouts in a single container.

This overview explains the main RadDock capabilities, shows the common window arrangements it supports, and points you to the next articles for implementation details.

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What RadDock Helps You Build

RadDock can fill the entire client area of a form or manage only a specific rectangular region. This makes it a good fit for applications that need document editing surfaces, resizable tool panes, or customizable workspaces.

RadDock hosting dockable windows inside a WinForms application. WinForms application layout with RadDock managing multiple dockable windows and a central work area.

Key Features

Use RadDock when your application needs the following capabilities:

Host dockable windows in a single container that can span all or part of a form.
Arrange ToolWindow and DocumentWindow instances in docked, floating, tabbed, or auto-hidden states.
Resize panes with the Auto, Relative, Absolute, and Fill sizing modes.
Persist layout information, including panel size, position, and docking state, and restore it later.
Control window-closing behavior through the CloseAction property.
Extend layout behavior through RadSplitContainer and SplitContainerLayoutStrategy when the default layout logic does not meet your scenario.
Restore a previous docked or floating state through the built-in re-dock behavior.
Configure layouts interactively at design time with the Advanced Layout Designer.

The following sample shows a typical RadDock workspace. Tool windows host feed lists and behavior settings, while document windows display tabbed article content.

Sample application that uses tool windows, floating panes, auto-hidden output, and tabbed documents. Sample RSS Reader interface that uses RadDock to display feed lists, a floating behavior pane, an auto-hidden output window, and tabbed documents.

Tool Windows and Document Windows

RadDock supports two main window types. Use ToolWindow for supporting UI such as explorers, properties, filters, and output panes. Use DocumentWindow for the main content area when users need to switch between tabbed documents.

Common docking interactions include the following:

Float, dock, pin, unpin, or tab tool windows.
Split groups of dock windows horizontally or vertically.
Drag documents to rearrange the tab order or move them to another group.
Add MDI child forms automatically as tabbed documents.
Create custom tool windows or custom document windows when you need docking support around your own controls.

Dock, Float, and Auto-Hide Panes

During drag and drop, RadDock shows a docking compass and visual hints so users can place a window precisely.

Docking compass and visual hints shown while dragging a pane. Drag-and-drop docking hints in RadDock, including the docking compass used to position a pane.

Tool windows can also switch to an auto-hidden state to preserve screen space while keeping the pane available.

Auto-hidden tool window collapsed to the edge of the dock area. Tool window collapsed to the side of the RadDock container in auto-hide mode.

Pinned tool window expanded from its collapsed state. Expanded tool window that was previously auto-hidden in RadDock.

Design and Navigate the Layout

Use the Advanced Layout Designer to configure the number, position, and properties of dock windows visually at design time.

Advanced Layout Designer used to configure a RadDock workspace. Advanced Layout Designer interface for arranging dock windows in RadDock at design time.

At run time, users can move quickly between windows with keyboard navigation such as Ctrl+Tab.

Window navigation interface displayed when cycling through docked panes. RadDock window navigation overlay shown while using Ctrl plus Tab to switch between docked windows.

Rearrange Tabbed Documents

DocumentWindow tabs can be dragged, reordered, resized, floated, and grouped into different document arrangements.

Tabbed documents rearranged within the document area. Document tabs in RadDock being reordered or moved within the tabbed document area.

Save, Restore, and Customize Layouts

RadDock tracks window state information for each DockWindow, such as floating size, floating location, auto-hide size, and previous docking position. Because layout information is stored separately from the panel content, users can switch between states without losing the sizing details for each state.

Use layout persistence when your application needs to restore the user workspace between sessions. This is especially useful for line-of-business applications, editors, and dashboards where users customize pane placement.

If you need more control than the default behavior provides, extend the layout process through RadSplitContainer and SplitContainerLayoutStrategy, or replace the re-dock service with your own implementation.

Watch the Video Tutorials

Use these videos for a guided overview of the control:

Introducing the new RadDock for WinForms explains the main features and shows how to start working with the updated control.
Getting Started with RadDock for WinForms demonstrates the run-time and design-time workflow, including the Advanced Layout Designer.

Video overview of the new RadDock experience for WinForms. Preview image for the Introducing the new RadDock for WinForms video.

Getting-started video for RadDock design-time and run-time features. Preview image for the Getting Started with RadDock for WinForms video.

Telerik UI for WinForms Learning Resources

Continue with these product-specific resources:

Telerik UI for WinForms Additional Resources

Use these broader resources to evaluate, plan, and support a WinForms project: