Item Sizing

Updated on May 7, 2026

ItemHeight

By default, all items in RadDropDownList have equal height, 18px. You can set the ListElement.ItemHeight property in order to specify the desired height for all items.

Figure 1: ItemHeight

ItemHeight

C#

this.radDropDownList1.DropDownListElement.ListElement.Font = new Font("Arial", 18f);
this.radDropDownList1.ListElement.ItemHeight = 40;
    

VB.NET

Me.RadDropDownList1.DropDownListElement.ListElement.Font = New Font("Arial", 18.0F)
Me.RadDropDownList1.ListElement.ItemHeight = 40

AutoSizeItems

The RadDropDownList.AutoSizeItems property indicates whether items will be sized according to their content.

Figure 2: AutoSizeItems

AutoSizeItems

C#

this.radDropDownList1.DropDownListElement.ListElement.Font = new Font("Arial", 8f);
this.radDropDownList1.AutoSizeItems = true;

VB.NET

Me.RadDropDownList1.DropDownListElement.ListElement.Font = New Font("Arial", 8.0F)
Me.RadDropDownList1.AutoSizeItems = True

If this property is set to false the user can set the Height property of each individual RadListDataItem in the Items collection in order to override the automatic sizing.

Figure 3: Custom height for each item

Height

C#

this.radDropDownList1.AutoSizeItems = false;
StringBuilder sb;
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
{
    RadListDataItem item = new RadListDataItem();
    sb = new StringBuilder();
    for (int j = 0; j < i + 1; j++)
    {
        sb.AppendLine("Item" + i + " Line" + j);
    }
    item.Text = sb.ToString();
    item.Height = this.radDropDownList1.ListElement.ItemHeight * (i + 1);
    this.radDropDownList1.Items.Add(item);
}

VB.NET

Me.RadDropDownList1.AutoSizeItems = False
Dim sb As StringBuilder
For i As Integer = 0 To 9
    Dim item As New RadListDataItem()
    sb = New StringBuilder()
    For j As Integer = 0 To i
        sb.AppendLine("Item" & i & " Line" & j)
    Next
    item.Text = sb.ToString()
    item.Height = Me.RadDropDownList1.ListElement.ItemHeight * (i + 1)
    Me.RadDropDownList1.Items.Add(item)
Next

Sizing auto-complete pop-up items

When the RadDropDownList.AutoCompleteMode property is set to Suggest or SuggestAppend you can customize the height of the auto-complete items by setting the DropDownListElement.AutoCompleteSuggest.DropDownList.ListElement.ItemHeight property:

Figure 4: AutoCompleteSuggest.DropDownList.ListElement.ItemHeight

Auto-complete items height

C#

this.radDropDownList1.AutoCompleteMode = AutoCompleteMode.SuggestAppend;
this.radDropDownList1.DropDownListElement.AutoCompleteSuggest.DropDownList.ListElement.ItemHeight = 40;

VB.NET

Me.RadDropDownList1.AutoCompleteMode = AutoCompleteMode.SuggestAppend
Me.RadDropDownList1.DropDownListElement.AutoCompleteSuggest.DropDownList.ListElement.ItemHeight = 40