How to easily duplicate a Windows Form in Visual Studio

Question

How can I easily duplicate a C  VB Form in Visual Studio  If I copy  amp  paste in the Solution Explorer  it uses the same class internally and gets messed up  How do you do it

User · Answer

Secured way without problems is to make Template of your form You can use it in the same project or any other project. and you can add it very easily, such as adding a new form . Here's a way how make Template

1- from File Menu click Export Template

2- Choose Template Type (Choose item template ) and click next

3-Check Form that you want to make a template of it, and click next Twice

4-Rename your template and (put describe , choose icon image ,preview image if you want)

5-click finish

Now you can add new item and choose your template in any project

User · Answer

Add a sub-folder to your project  Right-click on the sub-folder  and click Add Existing Item  Browse to the form you want to copy  and select its  cs file   This will duplicate the original form  partial and resx and all  in the sub-folder   The name will not conflict with the original  because the sub-folder will be included in its namespace  Right-click on the  cs file  click Refactor   Rename and enter the new name   This will also rename the partial and the resx for you    I m generally averse to methods of doing this that involve opening up the files in notepad or whatever  since I always think a common task like this should have a built-in way of doing it in Visual Studio   In this case  there is

User · Answer

I have been using another way of copying forms since vb6     File Menu   SE - Save CurrentForm cs as - NewForm cs  Change its Name to NewForm in Properties window  In Solution Explorer - Add Existing Item - CurrentForm cs Usually in MDI form  where CurrentForm is referred  - CurrentFormToolStripMenuItem Click event - change reference back to CurrentForm  which is automatically changed to NewForm in step 1     comments welcome

User · Answer

First of all  if you re duplicating a lot of forms with cut and paste  consider a common base class for your forms  or for a category of your forms  that implements shared common functionality or look  amp  feel elements   You can also create a template for new forms that meet your needs and create new forms from that template   Personally I just cut and paste then fix any lingering name errors   Since I abstract out common functionality  I have not felt enough pain to look for a better way  -

User · Answer

1 Add a new folder to your project  2 Copy the form into that  3 Change the name in properties as well as change the file name  4 Check each form for their class name  they shouldn t be same

User · Answer

Right-Click on Form -  Copy Class      Right click on destination Folder and Paste Class      Rename new Form and say yes to renaming all references to this class

User · Answer

If you re working in VS 2019  take a few minutes to create an item template -- it s a perfect solution   How to  Create item templates  Not sure if it applies to earlier versions of VS

User · Answer

Its Really Easy   In Design mode FORM    form1 cs Design    copy the whole Form  ctrl A  then  ctrl C  All objects at once    Then add a new windows form to the project  Change the size of the form to the size that you want then paste ctrl V all of the new objects will be copied to the new form  When they are all still picked double click on any of the objects    NOT THE FORM         This will create the code on the Form side matching the objects you just pasted  if it doesn t you can double click on each object and it will create the code one at a time  I use a text box area to double click in and it works almost every time  I use this method everyday WORKS GREAT

User · Answer

Copy and paste the form  Rename the pasted form  cs to match the new form class name   This should auto rename other related files  Open up  cs file   Change the class name and the name of the constructor s  and destructor  Open up  Designer cs file and change the class name    Extra Credit    Consider abstracting common functionality from the form into common form or controls

User · Answer

Just rename the class the designer references   But a better solution is to create a new instance of the same class at run time     Or better yet  create a parent form that various implementations inherit from

User · Answer

Save the all project Right click in the Solution Explorer  SE    Copy  Right click on the project name in the SE  this is the first line    Paste   It will create a  Copy of      vb  form Right click on this new form in SE   View code   and change its class name to the name  that you wanna use for the Form Left click on the new form in SE and rewrite its name for the one  that you used in the class name  and  vb in the end  Build - if it has no error  you win

User · Answer

I usually copy the files in windows explorer  open them up in Notepad Wordpad and just change the one mention of the class name at the top  Include those files in your project  and you ll be good to go

User · Answer

replicated this answer from my other post in case someone is looking for this solution here   Using VS2013 just tested this and it appears reliable and consistent   This is similar to some comments above but adds another method that s quicker    1st  In Windows File Explorer highlight and copy all 3 Form files   vb or  cs   designer   resx    2nd  This can be accomplished 2 ways    2a-1  In File Explorer paste the 3 files into the project folder with your other forms   2a-2  In VS Solution Explorer  turn  Show All Files  on  Right Click on the pasted form  amp   Include in Project    It should work without other changes   Or  I think better    2b-1  In VS  click into Solution Explorer and paste w Control-C   For some reason the right-click context menu in Solution Explorer may not show a paste option  but it works from the keyboard    This method adds the form to the project directly without having to  Include in Project  as above   With this method you can add as many forms at a time as you like  all 3 files for each  in a single step

User · Answer

Inherit the form

[winforms] How to easily duplicate a Windows Form in Visual Studio?

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