# RadMenuItem The following controls are used to create a menu structure: * **RadMenuItem** * **RadMenuHeaderItem** * **RadMenuComboItem** * **RadMenuSeparatorItem** * **RadMenuContentItem** ## RadMenuItem The **RadMenuItem** represents a standard menu item. Some of its properties include: | Properties | Description | | ------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **AutoSizeMode** | Indicates how the menu item will be sized and can be *FitToAvailableSize*, *WrapAroundChildren* or *Auto*. | | **AngleTransform** | Sets the angle offset from horizontal with which the item will be displayed. | | **CommandBinding** | Allows you to configure keyboard shortcuts to fire a given menu item. See the [Getting Started](https://www.telerik.com/products/winforms/documentation/controls/menus/menu/getting-started) topic for an example. | | **DisplayStyle** | Lets you choose whether to show an image, text, or both on the item. | | **DescriptionText** | Contains the text for the description that appears just below the **Text**. **DescriptionFont** controls the font characteristics of the **DescriptionText** display. See the example menu item in the figure below.
![WinForms RadMenus menus-menu-working-with-radmenu-items-radmenuitem 001](https://www.telerik.com/products/winforms/documentation/assets/23c1097e1d7590dbc11463c4ec4fdb6e/menus-menu-working-with-radmenu-items-radmenuitem001.png) | | **Enabled** | When set to *false* shows the menu item as grayed out and does not react to mouse clicks. To allow non-standard painting when the menu item is not enabled set the **UseDefaultDisabledPaint** property to *false* and then use the **Visual Style Builder** to customize the appearance of this state. | | **FlipText** | Flips the text of the item vertically if set to *true*. | | **BackColor** and **ForeColor** | Set the colors of the background and text. | | **Font** | Sets the font and size of the item text. | | **HintText** | Sets the text to appear at the right side of the menu item, such as Ctrl+N for New. | | **Image**, **ImageIndex**, and **ImageKey** | Let you assign an image to display on the item. | | **IsChecked** | Controls whether a check mark is displayed on the item. | | **TextImageRelation** | Controls the relationship between the text and image displayed on the item. | | **Text** | Specifies the text to show on the item. | | **TextOrientation** | Allows you to choose vertical or horizontal text display. | | **CheckOnClick** | Indicates whether selecting the item should set a check mark. | | **HasTwoColumnDropDown** | Lets you add a drop-down menu that contains two columns. | | **IsMainMenuItem** | Indicates that the menu item is an item on the main menu, rather than an item on a drop-down menu. | | **PopupDirection** | Indicates whether the direction in which the drop-down menu will open will be to the left, right, up, or down. | | **ShowArrow** | Displays an arrow button on the drop-down menu. | | **StringAlignment** | Formats the alignment of the text string so it is positioned near, center, or far from the left border of the menu item. | ## Sizing Menu Items Use the **AutoSizeMode** property to choose whether the item fits the available size, wraps around its children, or uses the automatic sizing behavior. If you need all items in a **RadMenu** to have the same height, use the **AllItemsEqualHeight** property on the owning **RadMenu**. For more information, see [Menu Item Height](https://www.telerik.com/products/winforms/documentation/controls/menus/menu/working-with-radmenu-items/multi-line-menu-item-text). ## RadMenuComboItem The **RadMenuComboItem** allows you to put a drop-down list on a menu. To add items to the combo box work with the **Items** collection of the RadMenuComboItem.**ComboBoxElement** property. Since the **ComboBoxElement** returns a **RadDropDownListElement**, you can also use data binding to put items in the drop-down list from any data source. ## RadMenuContentItem The **RadMenuContentItem** is a container control that allows you to build up custom menu items from other controls. You can assign any **RadElement** based control to the **ContentElement** property of a **RadMenuContentItem**. See [Nesting Controls in Menu Items](https://www.telerik.com/products/winforms/documentation/controls/menus/menu/working-with-radmenu-items/nesting-controls-in-menu-items) for an example. ## RadMenuSeparatorItem The **RadMenuSeparatorItem** is used to add a horizontal line for visual separation between successive items on a menu. > note **RadMenuSeparatorItem** defines a **TextVisibility** property and it needs to be set to *Visible* in order the text set to the item to be displayed. ## See Also * [Adding and Removing Items](https://www.telerik.com/products/winforms/documentation/controls/menus/menu/working-with-radmenu-items/adding-and-removing-items) * [Nesting Controls in Menu Items](https://www.telerik.com/products/winforms/documentation/controls/menus/menu/working-with-radmenu-items/nesting-controls-in-menu-items) * [RadMenuItem Events](https://www.telerik.com/products/winforms/documentation/controls/menus/menu/working-with-radmenu-items/radmenuitem-events) * [Assign Shortcuts to Menu Items](https://www.telerik.com/products/winforms/documentation/controls/menus/menu/working-with-radmenu-items/assign-shortcuts-to-menu-items) * [Show Custom Checkbox Glyphs in RadMenuItem](https://www.telerik.com/products/winforms/documentation/knowledge-base/radmenuitem-custom-checkbox-glyphs)