FlowLayoutPanel simplifies how controls are arranged. With FlowLayoutPanel, we have the controls flow like text from left to right, top to bottom, or the opposite directions. No pixel-based positioning is required for these controls.
This article covers the FlowLayoutPanel control in Windows Forms.
To get started, please open your Windows Forms program and add a FlowLayoutPanel instance to your Form. Do this by dragging the FlowLayoutPanel from the Toolbox to the Form. Next, add some subcontrols to the FlowLayoutPanel by dragging controls such as Button, Label, CheckBox, and TextBox to the inner part of the FlowLayoutPanel.
It is usually a good idea to anchor your FlowLayoutPanel to other parts of the Form. I typically will anchor controls to the top, right, left and bottom of the form to ensure they resize when the window is resized by the user or other code.
Anchor in Windows FormsThe unique feature of the FlowLayoutPanel is its support for flowing in different directions. The default flow direction is left to right, like English text. The introductory screenshot in this article shows the FlowDirection of TopDown. You can also use RightToLeft and BottomUp.
In some programs, the FlowLayoutPanel may end up being too small to show all the controls. In this case, you can set the AutoScroll property to True. This will make the FlowLayoutPanel display scrollbars when the controls overflow the enclosing area.
The FlowLayoutPanel is one the easiest ways to arrange the controls on your Windows Form. It takes most of the hassle out of arranging controls yourself. Instead of using complex table layouts or—even worse—pixel layouts, FlowLayoutPanel introduces a graceful flow of controls into your program.
Windows Forms