Single Form Hide on Startup

Question

I have an application with one form in it  and on the Load method I need to hide the form    The form will display itself when it has a need to  think along the lines of a outlook 2003 style popup   but I can  figure out how to hide the form on load without something messy   Any suggestions

User · Answer

Here is a simple approach  It s in C   I don t have VB compiler at the moment   public Form1         InitializeComponent        Hide       Also Visible   false can be used    private void Form1 Load object sender  EventArgs e        Thread Sleep 10000       Show       Or visible   true

User · Answer

You re going to want to set the window state to minimized  and show in taskbar to false  Then at the end of your forms Load set window state to maximized and show in taskbar to true      public frmMain                 Program MainForm   this          InitializeComponent             this WindowState   FormWindowState Minimized          this ShowInTaskbar   false         private void frmMain Load object sender  EventArgs e                  Do heavy things here            At the end do this         this WindowState   FormWindowState Maximized          this ShowInTaskbar   true

User · Answer

At form construction time  Designer  program Main  or Form constructor  depending on your goals     this WindowState   FormWindowState Minimized   this ShowInTaskbar   false    When you need to show the form  presumably on event from your NotifyIcon  reverse as necessary    if   this ShowInTaskbar      this ShowInTaskbar   true    if  this WindowState    FormWindowState Minimized      this WindowState   FormWindowState Normal    Successive show hide events can more simply use the Form s Visible property or Show Hide methods

User · Answer

Here is a simple approach  It s in C   I don t have VB compiler at the moment   public Form1         InitializeComponent        Hide       Also Visible   false can be used    private void Form1 Load object sender  EventArgs e        Thread Sleep 10000       Show       Or visible   true

User · Answer

Launching an app without a form means you re going to have to manage the application startup shutdown yourself   Starting the form off invisible is a better option

User · Answer

In the designer  set the form s Visible property to false   Then avoid calling Show   until you need it     A better paradigm is to not create an instance of the form until you need it

User · Answer

protected override void OnLoad EventArgs e                Visible   false     Hide form window          ShowInTaskbar   false     Remove from taskbar          Opacity   0           base OnLoad e

User · Answer

Launching an app without a form means you re going to have to manage the application startup shutdown yourself   Starting the form off invisible is a better option

User · Answer

Why do it like that at all   Why not just start like a console app and show the form when necessary  There s nothing but a few references separating a console app from a forms app   No need in being greedy and taking the memory needed for the form when you may not even need it

User · Answer

I m coming at this from C   but should be very similar in vb net   In your main program file  in the Main method  you will have something like   Application Run new MainForm       This creates a new main form and limits the lifetime of the application to the lifetime of the main form   However  if you remove the parameter to Application Run    then the application will be started with no form shown and you will be free to show and hide forms as much as you like   Rather than hiding the form in the Load method  initialize the form before calling Application Run    I m assuming the form will have a NotifyIcon on it to display an icon in the task bar - this can be displayed even if the form itself is not yet visible  Calling Form Show   or Form Hide   from handlers of NotifyIcon events will show and hide the form respectively

User · Answer

static void Main                         Application EnableVisualStyles                Application SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault false               Form1 form1   new Form1                form1 Visible   false              Application Run                private void ExitToolStripMenuItem Click object sender  EventArgs e                        this Close                Application Exit

User · Answer

In the designer  set the form s Visible property to false   Then avoid calling Show   until you need it     A better paradigm is to not create an instance of the form until you need it

User · Answer

I have struggled with this issue a lot and the solution is much simpler than i though  I first tried all the suggestions here but then i was not satisfied with the result and investigated it a little more  I found that if I add the    this visible false      to the InitializeComponent   code just before the     this Load    new System EventHandler this DebugOnOff Load     It is working just fine  but I wanted a more simple solution and it turn out that if you add the    this visible false     to the start of the load event  you get a simple perfect working solution        private void DebugOnOff Load object sender  EventArgs e    this Visible   false

User · Answer

Usually you would only be doing this when you are using a tray icon or some other method to display the form later  but it will work nicely even if you never display your main form   Create a bool in your Form class that is defaulted to false   private bool allowshowdisplay   false    Then override the SetVisibleCore method  protected override void SetVisibleCore bool value                    base SetVisibleCore allowshowdisplay   value   allowshowdisplay       Because Application Run   sets the forms  Visible   true after it loads the form this will intercept that and set it to false   In the above case  it will always set it to false until you enable it by setting allowshowdisplay to true   Now that will keep the form from displaying on startup  now you need to re-enable the SetVisibleCore to function properly by setting the allowshowdisplay   true  You will want to do this on whatever user interface function that displays the form   In my example it is the left click event in my notiyicon object   private void notifyIcon1 MouseClick object sender  MouseEventArgs e        if  e Button    System Windows Forms MouseButtons Left                this allowshowdisplay   true          this Visible    this Visible

User · Answer

Here is a simple approach  It s in C   I don t have VB compiler at the moment   public Form1         InitializeComponent        Hide       Also Visible   false can be used    private void Form1 Load object sender  EventArgs e        Thread Sleep 10000       Show       Or visible   true

User · Answer

This example supports total invisibility as well as only NotifyIcon in the System tray and no clicks and much more   More here  http   code msdn microsoft com TheNotifyIconExample

User · Answer

I m coming at this from C   but should be very similar in vb net   In your main program file  in the Main method  you will have something like   Application Run new MainForm       This creates a new main form and limits the lifetime of the application to the lifetime of the main form   However  if you remove the parameter to Application Run    then the application will be started with no form shown and you will be free to show and hide forms as much as you like   Rather than hiding the form in the Load method  initialize the form before calling Application Run    I m assuming the form will have a NotifyIcon on it to display an icon in the task bar - this can be displayed even if the form itself is not yet visible  Calling Form Show   or Form Hide   from handlers of NotifyIcon events will show and hide the form respectively

User · Answer

Override OnVisibleChanged in Form  protected override void OnVisibleChanged EventArgs e        this Visible   false       base OnVisibleChanged e       You can add trigger if you may need to show it at some point  public partial class MainForm   Form   public bool hideForm   true      public MainForm  bool hideForm                this hideForm   hideForm          InitializeComponent              protected override void OnVisibleChanged EventArgs e                if  this hideForm              this Visible   false           base OnVisibleChanged e

User · Answer

Try to hide the app from the task bar as well   To do that please use this code     protected override void OnLoad EventArgs e         Visible   false     Hide form window     ShowInTaskbar   false     Remove from taskbar     Opacity   0      base OnLoad e          Thanks   Ruhul

User · Answer

Why do it like that at all   Why not just start like a console app and show the form when necessary  There s nothing but a few references separating a console app from a forms app   No need in being greedy and taking the memory needed for the form when you may not even need it

User · Answer

Extend your main form with this one   using System Windows Forms   namespace HideWindows       public class HideForm   Form               public HideForm                         Opacity   0              ShowInTaskbar   false                     public new void Show                         Opacity   100              ShowInTaskbar   true               Show this                       For example   namespace HideWindows       public partial class Form1   HideForm               public Form1                         InitializeComponent                        More info in this article  spanish    http   codelogik net 2008 12 30 primer-form-oculto

User · Answer

This example supports total invisibility as well as only NotifyIcon in the System tray and no clicks and much more   More here  http   code msdn microsoft com TheNotifyIconExample

User · Answer

In the designer  set the form s Visible property to false   Then avoid calling Show   until you need it     A better paradigm is to not create an instance of the form until you need it

User · Answer

Usually you would only be doing this when you are using a tray icon or some other method to display the form later  but it will work nicely even if you never display your main form   Create a bool in your Form class that is defaulted to false   private bool allowshowdisplay   false    Then override the SetVisibleCore method  protected override void SetVisibleCore bool value                    base SetVisibleCore allowshowdisplay   value   allowshowdisplay       Because Application Run   sets the forms  Visible   true after it loads the form this will intercept that and set it to false   In the above case  it will always set it to false until you enable it by setting allowshowdisplay to true   Now that will keep the form from displaying on startup  now you need to re-enable the SetVisibleCore to function properly by setting the allowshowdisplay   true  You will want to do this on whatever user interface function that displays the form   In my example it is the left click event in my notiyicon object   private void notifyIcon1 MouseClick object sender  MouseEventArgs e        if  e Button    System Windows Forms MouseButtons Left                this allowshowdisplay   true          this Visible    this Visible

User · Answer

Based on various suggestions  all I had to do was this   To hide the form   Me Opacity   0 Me ShowInTaskbar   false   To show the form   Me Opacity   100 Me ShowInTaskbar   true

User · Answer

I m coming at this from C   but should be very similar in vb net   In your main program file  in the Main method  you will have something like   Application Run new MainForm       This creates a new main form and limits the lifetime of the application to the lifetime of the main form   However  if you remove the parameter to Application Run    then the application will be started with no form shown and you will be free to show and hide forms as much as you like   Rather than hiding the form in the Load method  initialize the form before calling Application Run    I m assuming the form will have a NotifyIcon on it to display an icon in the task bar - this can be displayed even if the form itself is not yet visible  Calling Form Show   or Form Hide   from handlers of NotifyIcon events will show and hide the form respectively

User · Answer

static void Main         Application EnableVisualStyles        Application SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault false       MainUIForm mainUiForm   new MainUIForm        mainUiForm Visible   false      Application Run

User · Answer

I use this   private void MainForm Load object sender  EventArgs e        if  Settings Instance HideAtStartup                BeginInvoke new MethodInvoker delegate                       Hide                           Obviously you have to change the if condition with yours

User · Answer

You re going to want to set the window state to minimized  and show in taskbar to false  Then at the end of your forms Load set window state to maximized and show in taskbar to true      public frmMain                 Program MainForm   this          InitializeComponent             this WindowState   FormWindowState Minimized          this ShowInTaskbar   false         private void frmMain Load object sender  EventArgs e                  Do heavy things here            At the end do this         this WindowState   FormWindowState Maximized          this ShowInTaskbar   true

User · Answer

I do it like this - from my point of view the easiest way   set the form s  StartPosition  to  Manual   and add this to the form s designer   Private Sub InitializeComponent         Me Location New Point -2000 -2000        End Sub   Make sure that the location is set to something beyond or below the screen s dimensions  Later  when you want to show the form  set the Location to something within the screen s dimensions

User · Answer

Try to hide the app from the task bar as well   To do that please use this code     protected override void OnLoad EventArgs e         Visible   false     Hide form window     ShowInTaskbar   false     Remove from taskbar     Opacity   0      base OnLoad e          Thanks   Ruhul

User · Answer

Override OnVisibleChanged in Form  protected override void OnVisibleChanged EventArgs e        this Visible   false       base OnVisibleChanged e       You can add trigger if you may need to show it at some point  public partial class MainForm   Form   public bool hideForm   true      public MainForm  bool hideForm                this hideForm   hideForm          InitializeComponent              protected override void OnVisibleChanged EventArgs e                if  this hideForm              this Visible   false           base OnVisibleChanged e

User · Answer

Put this in your Program cs   FormName FormName   new FormName      FormName ShowInTaskbar   false  FormName Opacity   0  FormName Show    FormName Hide      Use this when you want to display the form   var principalForm   Application OpenForms OfType lt FormName gt    Single    principalForm ShowInTaskbar   true  principalForm Opacity   100  principalForm Show

User · Answer

In the designer  set the form s Visible property to false   Then avoid calling Show   until you need it     A better paradigm is to not create an instance of the form until you need it

User · Answer

Why do it like that at all   Why not just start like a console app and show the form when necessary  There s nothing but a few references separating a console app from a forms app   No need in being greedy and taking the memory needed for the form when you may not even need it

User · Answer

Here is a simple approach  It s in C   I don t have VB compiler at the moment   public Form1         InitializeComponent        Hide       Also Visible   false can be used    private void Form1 Load object sender  EventArgs e        Thread Sleep 10000       Show       Or visible   true

User · Answer

This works perfectly for me    STAThread      static void Main                 try                       frmBase frm   new frmBase                               Application Run                When I launch the project  everything was hidden including in the taskbar unless I need to show it

User · Answer

This example supports total invisibility as well as only NotifyIcon in the System tray and no clicks and much more   More here  http   code msdn microsoft com TheNotifyIconExample

User · Answer

Why do it like that at all   Why not just start like a console app and show the form when necessary  There s nothing but a few references separating a console app from a forms app   No need in being greedy and taking the memory needed for the form when you may not even need it

User · Answer

Launching an app without a form means you re going to have to manage the application startup shutdown yourself   Starting the form off invisible is a better option

User · Answer

This works perfectly for me    STAThread      static void Main                 try                       frmBase frm   new frmBase                               Application Run                When I launch the project  everything was hidden including in the taskbar unless I need to show it

User · Answer

I use this   private void MainForm Load object sender  EventArgs e        if  Settings Instance HideAtStartup                BeginInvoke new MethodInvoker delegate                       Hide                           Obviously you have to change the if condition with yours

User · Answer

Extend your main form with this one   using System Windows Forms   namespace HideWindows       public class HideForm   Form               public HideForm                         Opacity   0              ShowInTaskbar   false                     public new void Show                         Opacity   100              ShowInTaskbar   true               Show this                       For example   namespace HideWindows       public partial class Form1   HideForm               public Form1                         InitializeComponent                        More info in this article  spanish    http   codelogik net 2008 12 30 primer-form-oculto

User · Answer

Put this in your Program cs   FormName FormName   new FormName      FormName ShowInTaskbar   false  FormName Opacity   0  FormName Show    FormName Hide      Use this when you want to display the form   var principalForm   Application OpenForms OfType lt FormName gt    Single    principalForm ShowInTaskbar   true  principalForm Opacity   100  principalForm Show

User · Answer

Extend your main form with this one   using System Windows Forms   namespace HideWindows       public class HideForm   Form               public HideForm                         Opacity   0              ShowInTaskbar   false                     public new void Show                         Opacity   100              ShowInTaskbar   true               Show this                       For example   namespace HideWindows       public partial class Form1   HideForm               public Form1                         InitializeComponent                        More info in this article  spanish    http   codelogik net 2008 12 30 primer-form-oculto

User · Answer

Launching an app without a form means you re going to have to manage the application startup shutdown yourself   Starting the form off invisible is a better option

User · Answer

I use this   private void MainForm Load object sender  EventArgs e        if  Settings Instance HideAtStartup                BeginInvoke new MethodInvoker delegate                       Hide                           Obviously you have to change the if condition with yours

User · Answer

I had an issue similar to the poster s where the code to hide the form in the form Load event was firing before the form was completely done loading  making the Hide   method fail  not crashing  just wasn t working as expected    The other answers are great and work but I ve found that in general  the form Load event often has such issues and what you want to put in there can easily go in the constructor or the form Shown event    Anyways  when I moved that same code that checks some things then hides the form when its not needed  a login form when single sign on fails   its worked as expected

User · Answer

As a complement to Groky s response  which is actually the best response by far in my perspective  we could also mention the ApplicationContext class  which allows also  as it s shown in the article s sample  the ability to open two  or even more  Forms on application startup  and control the application lifetime with all of them

User · Answer

Extend your main form with this one   using System Windows Forms   namespace HideWindows       public class HideForm   Form               public HideForm                         Opacity   0              ShowInTaskbar   false                     public new void Show                         Opacity   100              ShowInTaskbar   true               Show this                       For example   namespace HideWindows       public partial class Form1   HideForm               public Form1                         InitializeComponent                        More info in this article  spanish    http   codelogik net 2008 12 30 primer-form-oculto

User · Answer

I do it like this - from my point of view the easiest way   set the form s  StartPosition  to  Manual   and add this to the form s designer   Private Sub InitializeComponent         Me Location New Point -2000 -2000        End Sub   Make sure that the location is set to something beyond or below the screen s dimensions  Later  when you want to show the form  set the Location to something within the screen s dimensions

User · Answer

static void Main                         Application EnableVisualStyles                Application SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault false               Form1 form1   new Form1                form1 Visible   false              Application Run                private void ExitToolStripMenuItem Click object sender  EventArgs e                        this Close                Application Exit

User · Answer

I use this   private void MainForm Load object sender  EventArgs e        if  Settings Instance HideAtStartup                BeginInvoke new MethodInvoker delegate                       Hide                           Obviously you have to change the if condition with yours

User · Answer

This example supports total invisibility as well as only NotifyIcon in the System tray and no clicks and much more   More here  http   code msdn microsoft com TheNotifyIconExample

User · Answer

I had an issue similar to the poster s where the code to hide the form in the form Load event was firing before the form was completely done loading  making the Hide   method fail  not crashing  just wasn t working as expected    The other answers are great and work but I ve found that in general  the form Load event often has such issues and what you want to put in there can easily go in the constructor or the form Shown event    Anyways  when I moved that same code that checks some things then hides the form when its not needed  a login form when single sign on fails   its worked as expected

User · Answer

At form construction time  Designer  program Main  or Form constructor  depending on your goals     this WindowState   FormWindowState Minimized   this ShowInTaskbar   false    When you need to show the form  presumably on event from your NotifyIcon  reverse as necessary    if   this ShowInTaskbar      this ShowInTaskbar   true    if  this WindowState    FormWindowState Minimized      this WindowState   FormWindowState Normal    Successive show hide events can more simply use the Form s Visible property or Show Hide methods

User · Answer

As a complement to Groky s response  which is actually the best response by far in my perspective  we could also mention the ApplicationContext class  which allows also  as it s shown in the article s sample  the ability to open two  or even more  Forms on application startup  and control the application lifetime with all of them

User · Answer

I have struggled with this issue a lot and the solution is much simpler than i though  I first tried all the suggestions here but then i was not satisfied with the result and investigated it a little more  I found that if I add the    this visible false      to the InitializeComponent   code just before the     this Load    new System EventHandler this DebugOnOff Load     It is working just fine  but I wanted a more simple solution and it turn out that if you add the    this visible false     to the start of the load event  you get a simple perfect working solution        private void DebugOnOff Load object sender  EventArgs e    this Visible   false

User · Answer

protected override void OnLoad EventArgs e                Visible   false     Hide form window          ShowInTaskbar   false     Remove from taskbar          Opacity   0           base OnLoad e

User · Answer

I m coming at this from C   but should be very similar in vb net   In your main program file  in the Main method  you will have something like   Application Run new MainForm       This creates a new main form and limits the lifetime of the application to the lifetime of the main form   However  if you remove the parameter to Application Run    then the application will be started with no form shown and you will be free to show and hide forms as much as you like   Rather than hiding the form in the Load method  initialize the form before calling Application Run    I m assuming the form will have a NotifyIcon on it to display an icon in the task bar - this can be displayed even if the form itself is not yet visible  Calling Form Show   or Form Hide   from handlers of NotifyIcon events will show and hide the form respectively

User · Answer

static void Main         Application EnableVisualStyles        Application SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault false       MainUIForm mainUiForm   new MainUIForm        mainUiForm Visible   false      Application Run

User · Answer

Based on various suggestions  all I had to do was this   To hide the form   Me Opacity   0 Me ShowInTaskbar   false   To show the form   Me Opacity   100 Me ShowInTaskbar   true

[c#] Single Form Hide on Startup

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