A control is a child window that an application uses in conjunction with another window to enable user interaction. Controls are most often used within dialog boxes, but they can also be used in other windows. Controls within dialog boxes provide the user with a way to type text, choose options, and initiate actions. Controls in other windows provide a variety of services, such as letting the user choose commands, view status, and view and edit text. This documentation describes the controls provided by Windows and the programming elements used to create and manipulate them.
For a list of all Windows controls, including a link to comprehensive overview and reference information for each control, see Control Library.
Developer audience
Controls are designed for use by C/C++ developers and UI designers. In general, developers need a moderate level of understanding about UI programming concepts, Windows API programming, and Unicode.
Run-time requirements
Support for controls is provided by User32.dll and Comctl32.dll. For more information, see Common Control Versions.
The topics in this section discuss each control separately. The information for each control contains overviews that describe the control and how to use it, as well as programming elements that are used specifically with that control.
This section contains information about the programming elements used with button controls. A button is a control the user can click to provide input to an application.