How to: Enable the Main Menu Bars or Ribbon in WinForms

• Sep 25, 2025

This article describes how to enable the Ribbon User Interface in your WinForms application.

Tip

For the purposes of this article, you can use the MainDemo application installed as a part of the XAF package. The default location of the application is %PUBLIC%\Documents\DevExpress Demos 25.2\Components\XAF.

1. In the Solution Explorer , expand the MainDemo.Win project and double-click the Model.xafml file to open it in the Model Editor.

2. Navigate to the Options node. Here you can customize the appearance and behavior of the application’s UI.

3. Focus the FormStyle property and choose the Ribbon option from the drop-down menu.

4. Run the application to see the result.

Tip

You can find additional options for Ribbon UI element customization in the Options | RibbonOptions node.