syncfusion-winforms-multiselect-combobox

Original：🇺🇸 English

Translated

Guide for implementing the Syncfusion Windows Forms MultiSelectionComboBox control — a ComboBox with multi-item selection, auto-suggestion, and tag-style visual items. Use this skill when the user mentions MultiSelectionComboBox, WinForms multi-select combo, or Syncfusion.Windows.Forms.Tools.MultiSelectionComboBox, or needs a combo box that allows selecting multiple items in a Windows Forms application. Applies when configuring display modes, binding data sources, styling visual items, handling SelectedItemCollectionChanged, or setting AutoSuggestMode.

3installs

Sourcesyncfusion/winforms-ui-components-skills

Added on2026-04-02

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add syncfusion/winforms-ui-components-skills syncfusion-winforms-multiselect-combobox

SKILL.md Content

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Implementing MultiSelectionComboBox

The MultiSelectionComboBox is a WinForms ComboBox control that supports multiple item selection and auto-suggestion. Selected items can be displayed as removable tag chips (VisualItem mode), comma-separated text (Delimiter mode), or single-value (Normal mode). It supports data binding via

DataSource

/

DisplayMember

/

ValueMember

, Office-style visual themes, grouping, and a rich event model.

When to Use This Skill

Adding a multi-select dropdown to a Windows Forms application
Displaying selected values as tag chips with close buttons
Binding the combo box to a
```
DataTable
```
,
```
DataView
```
, or
```
ArrayList
```
Configuring auto-suggestion behavior (
```
AutoSuggestMode
```
)
Grouping dropdown items by initial character
Styling the drop-down list or visual item tags
Handling selection change and visual item collection events

Documentation and Navigation Guide

Getting Started

📄 Read: references/getting-started.md

Assembly references and NuGet package setup
Adding the control via Designer or code-behind
Namespace imports (C# and VB.NET)
Basic instantiation with
```
ButtonStyle
```
,
```
UseVisualStyle
```
, and
```
Size
```
Minimal working example

Display Modes & Visual Item Input

📄 Read: references/display-modes-and-visual-items.md

```
DisplayMode.VisualItem
```
— tag chips with remove buttons
```
DisplayMode.DelimiterMode
```
— comma-separated text
```
DisplayMode.NormalMode
```
— single-value selection
```
AutoSizeMode
```
: Vertical, Horizontal, None
```
VisualItemInputMode
```
: DisplayMemberMode, ValueMemberMode, VisualItemMode
Delimiter character customization

Data Binding

📄 Read: references/data-binding.md

Binding to
```
ArrayList
```
,
```
DataView
```
, and
```
DataTable
```
```
DataSource
```
,
```
DisplayMember
```
,
```
ValueMember
```
properties
Complete external data source binding example
```
DataSourceChanged
```
event handling

Styling & Customization

📄 Read: references/styling-and-customization.md

Visual styles: Default, Office2016Colorful, Office2016White, Office2016Black, Office2016DarkGray
Drop-down styling:
```
ShowCheckBox
```
, group header colors, item/drop-down dimensions
Visual item tag colors: BackColor, ForeColor, SelectionColor, BorderColor
Grouping:
```
ShowGroups
```
, runtime enable/disable
Auto-suggestion modes:
```
Begin
```
,
```
Match
```
,
```
Disabled
```

Events & Advanced Features

📄 Read: references/events-and-advanced-features.md

```
SelectedItemCollectionChanged
```
— when the selected items change
```
VisualItemCollectionChanged
```
— when visual item tags are added/removed

AutoSizeModeChanged

,

DataSourceChanged

,

DropDown

events

Detecting VisualItemCollection modifications at runtime

Quick Start

csharp

using Syncfusion.Windows.Forms.Tools;
using Syncfusion.Windows.Forms;

// Create and configure the control
var combo = new MultiSelectionComboBox();
combo.ButtonStyle = ButtonAppearance.Metro;
combo.UseVisualStyle = true;
combo.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(250, 30);
combo.DisplayMode = DisplayMode.VisualItem;

// Add items manually
combo.Items.AddRange(new object[] { "Apple", "Banana", "Cherry", "Date", "Elderberry" });

this.Controls.Add(combo);

vb

Imports Syncfusion.Windows.Forms.Tools
Imports Syncfusion.Windows.Forms

Dim combo As New MultiSelectionComboBox()
combo.ButtonStyle = ButtonAppearance.Metro
combo.UseVisualStyle = True
combo.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(250, 30)
combo.DisplayMode = DisplayMode.VisualItem
combo.Items.AddRange(New Object() {"Apple", "Banana", "Cherry"})
Me.Controls.Add(combo)

Common Patterns

Bind to a DataTable and display as tag chips

csharp

DataTable dt = new DataTable();
dt.Columns.Add("ID");
dt.Columns.Add("Name");
dt.Rows.Add("1", "Alice");
dt.Rows.Add("2", "Bob");
dt.Rows.Add("3", "Carol");

combo.DataSource = dt;
combo.DisplayMember = "Name";
combo.ValueMember = "ID";
combo.DisplayMode = DisplayMode.VisualItem;

React to selection changes

csharp

combo.SelectedItemCollectionChanged += (sender, e) =>
{
    if (e.Action == Actions.Added)
        Console.WriteLine("Added: " + e.SelectedItems[0]);
    else
        Console.WriteLine("Removed: " + e.SelectedItems[0]);
};

Apply Office 2016 Colorful theme

csharp

combo.Style = MultiSelectionComboBoxStyle.Office2016Colorful;

Key Properties

Property	Purpose
`DisplayMode`	VisualItem / DelimiterMode / NormalMode
`AutoSuggestMode`	Begin / Match / Disabled
`AutoSizeMode`	Vertical / Horizontal / None
`ShowCheckBox`	Show checkboxes in the dropdown
`ShowGroups`	Group items by initial character
`DelimiterChar`	Separator character (Delimiter mode)
`DataSource`	Bind to ArrayList, DataView, DataTable
`DisplayMember`	Property name shown in the control
`ValueMember`	Property used as the actual value
`Style`	Visual theme (Office2016Colorful, etc.)
`VisualItemInputMode`	DisplayMemberMode / ValueMemberMode / VisualItemMode

syncfusion-winforms-multiselect-combobox

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Implementing MultiSelectionComboBox

When to Use This Skill

Documentation and Navigation Guide

Getting Started

Display Modes & Visual Item Input

Data Binding

Styling & Customization

Events & Advanced Features

Quick Start

Common Patterns

Bind to a DataTable and display as tag chips

React to selection changes

Apply Office 2016 Colorful theme

Key Properties