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Getting Started with WinForms RibbonForm

This article shows how you can start using RadRibbonForm.

Adding Telerik Assemblies Using NuGet

To use RadRibbonForm when working with NuGet packages, install the Telerik.UI.for.WinForms.AllControls package. The package target framework version may vary.

Read more about NuGet installation in the Install using NuGet Packages article.

With the 2025 Q1 release, the Telerik UI for WinForms has a new licensing mechanism. You can learn more about it here.

Adding Assembly References Manually

When dragging and dropping a control from the Visual Studio (VS) Toolbox onto the Form Designer, VS automatically adds the necessary assemblies. However, if you're adding the control programmatically, you'll need to manually reference the following assemblies:

  • Telerik.Licensing.Runtime
  • Telerik.WinControls
  • Telerik.WinControls.UI
  • TelerikCommon

The Telerik UI for WinForms assemblies can be install by using one of the available installation approaches.

Defining the RadRibbonForm

There are three ways in which you can use the RadRibbonForm control:

  1. Change the base class of a standard Windows Form to Telerik.WinControls.UI.RadRibbonForm

  2. Drop a RadRibbonBar control on a RadForm control

  3. Add a new RadRibbonForm item to your project by right-clicking on the Project’s node in the Solution Explorer and selecting the "Add" option from the context menu.

 Drag-and-Drop a RadRibbonBar Control on a RadForm

When you add a RadRibbonBar control on a RadForm the Visual Studio Designer pops up a dialog which asks you whether you would like to switch the form’s behavior to RadRibbonFormBehavior:

WinForms RadRibbonForm Drag-and-Drop

After you choose to replace the form's default behavior with a RadRibbonFormBehavior, the RadForm is transformed to a RadRibbonForm:

WinForms RadRibbonForm RadRibbonFormBehavior

Switching to RadRibbonFormBehavior does not change the base class to RadRibbonForm but enables the RadRibbonForm functionality on the RadForm control.

Telerik UI for WinForms Learning Resources

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