ListBox Control in VB.net – Properties, Methods and Events

What is ListBox Control in VB.net?

A ListBox Control in VB.net is used to display a list of items in Windows form.

It allows the user to select one or more items from the ListBox Control.

Furthermore, we can add or design the list box by using the properties, methods, and events window at runtime.

Let’s create a list box by dragging a ListBox Control from the Toolbox and dropping it on the form.

You can populate the list box items either from the properties window or at runtime.

To add items to a ListBox, select the ListBox control and get to the properties window, for the properties of this control.

Click the ellipses (…) button next to the Items property.

This opens the String Collection Editor dialog box, where you can enter the values one at a line.

Properties of the ListBox Control in VB.net

The following are some commonly used Properties of the ListBox Control in VB.net.

Methods of the ListBox Control in VB.net

The following are some commonly used Methods of ListBox Control in VB.net.

Events of the ListBox Control in VB.net

The following are some of the commonly used Events of the ListBox Control in VB.net.

Let’s create a program to select an item from the ListBox in the VB.NET form.

Public Class Form1
    Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)

    End Sub

    Private Sub Button1_Click_1(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)

    End Sub

    Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        ListBox1.Items.Add("Red horse")
        ListBox1.Items.Add("Emperador")
        ListBox1.Items.Add("Fundador")
        ListBox1.Items.Add("Alfonso")
        ListBox1.Items.Add("San Mig")
        ListBox1.Items.Add("Tanduay")
    End Sub

    Private Sub Button1_Click_2(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)

    End Sub

    Private Sub Button1_Click_3(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        Dim lt As String  ' define a local variable.  
        lt = ListBox1.Text  'accept the data from the ListBox1  
        MsgBox(" Selected Drinks is: " & lt)  ' Display the selected item
    End Sub
End Class

Program Output:

Now select an item from the list. We have selected Red Horse.

Click on the Show button to display the selected item in Windows Form, as follows.

Summary

In this article, we discussed How To Create a VB.net ListBox Control in Windows Forms using Microsoft Visual Studio at design-time and run-time.

After that, we saw how to use various properties, events, and methods.

Related Articles

• Form Controls in VB.net-Windows Form Controls in VB.net
• Basic Controls in VB.net-What are the Basic Controls in VB.net
• Button Control in VB.net-Windows Form Button Control in VB.net
• Label Control in VB.net-What is Label Control in VB.net
• TextBox Control in VB.net-Properties, Method and Events of the TextBox

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Common use cases for ListBox Control

ListBox Control is a standard Windows Forms element that appears in most VB.NET desktop apps. Typical uses:

• User input capture. Bind to viewmodel properties for two-way data flow.
• Display of collections. Populate with in-memory lists, database result sets, or file system contents.
• Event-driven behaviors. Wire up Click, SelectedIndexChanged, or KeyDown handlers for interactivity.
• Data validation. Use Validating and Validated events to enforce input rules before persistence.
• Custom styling. Override OnPaint or use owner-draw modes for branded looks.

Wiring ListBox Control into your form

The standard pattern for adding ListBox Control at runtime looks like this:

Public Class Form1

    Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        ' Configure the control's initial state
        Me.Text = "ListBox Control Example"
        ' Attach event handlers programmatically
        AddHandler MyControl.Click, AddressOf MyControl_Click
    End Sub

    Private Sub MyControl_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
        ' React to user interaction here
        MessageBox.Show("Control was clicked")
    End Sub

End Class

Best practices for ListBox Control

• Name controls consistently. Use a Hungarian-style prefix (btn, txt, lbl, lst) so the codebehind reads cleanly.
• Group related controls in a Panel or GroupBox. Improves layout maintainability and keyboard tab order.
• Set TabIndex explicitly. Do not rely on design-time order; keyboard navigation matters for accessibility.
• Use data binding when possible. Avoid manual .Text = someValue assignments scattered across the codebehind.
• Handle Dispose(). Custom controls that hold GDI resources must implement IDisposable properly.

Troubleshooting ListBox Control

• Event handler does not fire. Confirm the Handles clause matches the exact control name, or that AddHandler was called.
• Design-time appearance differs from runtime. This usually means custom OnPaint code is not respecting DesignMode. Check with Me.DesignMode.
• Control flashes or flickers on redraw. Enable double-buffering by setting DoubleBuffered = True on the parent form.
• Cross-thread exceptions. UI updates from background threads must use Control.Invoke() or the BackgroundWorker.ReportProgress pattern.

Angel Jude Suarez

Full-Stack Developer at PIES IT Solution

Focuses on Python development, machine learning, and AI integration. Has built production AI systems including OpenAI Whisper integration for medical transcription and GPT-4o-powered diagnosis assistance. Strong background in pandas, scikit-learn, and TensorFlow.

Expertise: Python · PHP · Java · VB.NET · ASP.NET · Machine Learning · AI Integration · OpenCV · Django · CodeIgniter
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