# XtraTabControl Class | WinForms Controls | DevExpress Documentation

# XtraTabControl Class

Displays tabbed pages where you can place other controls.

**Namespace**: [DevExpress.XtraTab](/WindowsForms/DevExpress.XtraTab)

        **Assembly**:
        DevExpress.XtraEditors.v26.1.dll

## Declaration

- C#
- VB.NET

                        <section id="tabpanel_syntax_tabid_DevExpress.XtraTab.XtraTabControl-csharp" role="tabpanel" data-tab="tabid-csharp" class="tab-group__tab-content tab-group__tab-content--code" style="display: block">
                            <pre><code data-code-links="{&quot;Object&quot;:&quot;https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/system.object&quot;,&quot;MarshalByRefObject&quot;:&quot;https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/system.marshalbyrefobject&quot;,&quot;Component&quot;:&quot;https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/system.componentmodel.component&quot;,&quot;Control&quot;:&quot;https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/system.windows.forms.control&quot;,&quot;ControlBase&quot;:&quot;/WindowsForms/DevExpress.Utils.Controls.ControlBase&quot;}" class="lang-csharp hljs">public class XtraTabControl :&#xA;    ControlBase,&#xA;    ISupportInitialize,&#xA;    IXtraTab,&#xA;    IXtraTabProperties,&#xA;    IXtraTabPropertiesEx,&#xA;    IXtraTabCustomDraw,&#xA;    IToolTipControlClient,&#xA;    ISupportLookAndFeel,&#xA;    IDocumentAdapterFactory,&#xA;    ITabControlAnimationProvider,&#xA;    ISupportAdornerUIManager,&#xA;    IWin32Window,&#xA;    IUpdateAdornerUI,&#xA;    ISupportDXSkinColorsEx,&#xA;    ISupportDXSkinColors,&#xA;    IStringImageProvider</code></pre>
                        </section>
                        <section id="tabpanel_syntax_tabid_DevExpress.XtraTab.XtraTabControl-vb" role="tabpanel" data-tab="tabid-vb" class="tab-group__tab-content tab-group__tab-content--code" style="display: none">
                            <pre><code data-code-links="{&quot;Object&quot;:&quot;https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/system.object&quot;,&quot;MarshalByRefObject&quot;:&quot;https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/system.marshalbyrefobject&quot;,&quot;Component&quot;:&quot;https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/system.componentmodel.component&quot;,&quot;Control&quot;:&quot;https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/system.windows.forms.control&quot;,&quot;ControlBase&quot;:&quot;/WindowsForms/DevExpress.Utils.Controls.ControlBase&quot;}" class="lang-vb hljs">Public Class XtraTabControl&#xA;    Inherits ControlBase&#xA;    Implements ISupportInitialize,&#xA;               IXtraTab,&#xA;               IXtraTabProperties,&#xA;               IXtraTabPropertiesEx,&#xA;               IXtraTabCustomDraw,&#xA;               IToolTipControlClient,&#xA;               ISupportLookAndFeel,&#xA;               IDocumentAdapterFactory,&#xA;               ITabControlAnimationProvider,&#xA;               ISupportAdornerUIManager,&#xA;               IWin32Window,&#xA;               IUpdateAdornerUI,&#xA;               ISupportDXSkinColorsEx,&#xA;               ISupportDXSkinColors,&#xA;               IStringImageProvider</code></pre>
                        </section>

## Related API Members

The following members return **XtraTabControl** objects:

- [XtraTabPage.TabControl](/WindowsForms/DevExpress.XtraTab.XtraTabPage.TabControl)
- [XtraTabPageCollection.TabControl](/WindowsForms/DevExpress.XtraTab.XtraTabPageCollection.TabControl)

## Remarks

`XtraTabControl` is a container for tab pages, which can display other controls.

![XtraTabControl](/WindowsForms/images/xtratabcontrol4181.png)

Tab pages are stored in the [XtraTabControl.TabPages](/WindowsForms/DevExpress.XtraTab.XtraTabControl.TabPages) collection. Each page has a tab header, which can be clicked to activate this page. The currently active tab page is specified by the [XtraTabControl.SelectedTabPage](/WindowsForms/DevExpress.XtraTab.XtraTabControl.SelectedTabPage) property.

The following are the main control features:

- Images in page headers (use [XtraTabPage.ImageOptions](/WindowsForms/DevExpress.XtraTab.XtraTabPage.ImageOptions) property).
- Customizable position and orientation of page headers (see [XtraTabControl.HeaderOrientation](/WindowsForms/DevExpress.XtraTab.XtraTabControl.HeaderOrientation) and [XtraTabControl.HeaderLocation](/WindowsForms/DevExpress.XtraTab.XtraTabControl.HeaderLocation) properties).
- Arrange page headers in multiple rows (see [XtraTabControl.MultiLine](/WindowsForms/DevExpress.XtraTab.XtraTabControl.MultiLine)).

      ![XtraTabControl_Multiline](/WindowsForms/images/xtratabcontrol_multiline4182.png)
- **Close**, **Next** and **Prev** buttons in the header panel. The **Next** and **Prev** buttons enable end-users to scroll through the tab pages when the tab control’s width (height) is insufficient to display all the tab pages simultaneously. To enable and disable certain buttons, use the [XtraTabControl.HeaderButtons](/WindowsForms/DevExpress.XtraTab.XtraTabControl.HeaderButtons) property. To specify when the tab buttons must be displayed, use the [XtraTabControl.HeaderButtonsShowMode](/WindowsForms/DevExpress.XtraTab.XtraTabControl.HeaderButtonsShowMode) property.
- Support for [DX Skin Colors](/WindowsForms/114444/common-features/application-appearance-and-skin-colors#skin-colors). You can use DX Skin Colors to specify the background color of tab page headers (`XtraTabPage.Appearance.Header.BackColor`).
- Appearance customization, using the [XtraTabControl.Appearance](/WindowsForms/DevExpress.XtraTab.XtraTabControl.Appearance) and [XtraTabControl.AppearancePage](/WindowsForms/DevExpress.XtraTab.XtraTabControl.AppearancePage) properties.

Note

Controls contained in the XtraTabControl are not validated when the Form.ValidateChildren method is invoked. See [this KB article](https://supportcenter.devexpress.com/Ticket/Details/T101489/why-the-form-validatechildren-method-is-not-in-effect-for-controls-residing-within) for a solution.

## Inheritance

[Object](https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/system.object)
[MarshalByRefObject](https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/system.marshalbyrefobject)
[Component](https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/system.componentmodel.component)
[Control](https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/system.windows.forms.control)
DevExpress.XtraEditors.XtraControl
[ControlBase](/WindowsForms/DevExpress.Utils.Controls.ControlBase)
XtraTabControl

See Also

[XtraTabControl Members](/WindowsForms/DevExpress.XtraTab.XtraTabControl._members)

[DevExpress.XtraTab Namespace](/WindowsForms/DevExpress.XtraTab)