The BackColor property does not support transparent colors unless the SupportsTransparentBackColor value of System.Windows.Forms..::.ControlStyles is set to true.

The BackColor property is an ambient property. An ambient property is a control property that, if not set, is retrieved from the parent control. For example, a Button will have the same BackColor as its parent Form by default. For more information about ambient properties, see the AmbientProperties class or the Control class overview.

When overriding the BackColor property in a derived class, use the base class's BackColor property to extend the base implementation. Otherwise, you must provide all the implementation. You are not required to override both the get and set accessors of the BackColor property; you can override only one if needed.

Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows CE Platform Note:

Setting the background color to transparent is not supported on the .NET Compact Framework. For labels, use the DrawString method instead of a label control to achieve a similar effect.

The following code example sets the BackColor and ForeColor of the controls to the default system colors. The code recursively calls itself if the control has any child controls. This code example requires that you have a Form with at least one child control; however, a child container control, like a Panel or GroupBox, with its own child control(s) would better demonstrate the recursion.

' Reset all the controls to the user's default Control color. 
Private Sub ResetAllControlsBackColor(control As Control)
   control.BackColor = SystemColors.Control
   control.ForeColor = SystemColors.ControlText
   If control.HasChildren Then
      ' Recursively call this method for each child control.
      Dim childControl As Control
      For Each childControl In  control.Controls
         ResetAllControlsBackColor(childControl)
      Next childControl
   End If
End Sub

// Reset all the controls to the user's default Control color. 
private void ResetAllControlsBackColor(Control control)
{
   control.BackColor = SystemColors.Control;
   control.ForeColor = SystemColors.ControlText;
   if(control.HasChildren)
   {
      // Recursively call this method for each child control.
      foreach(Control childControl in control.Controls)
      {
         ResetAllControlsBackColor(childControl);
      }
   }
}

   // Reset all the controls to the user's default Control color.
private:
   void ResetAllControlsBackColor( Control^ control )
   {
      control->BackColor = SystemColors::Control;
      control->ForeColor = SystemColors::ControlText;
      if ( control->HasChildren )
      {
         // Recursively call this method for each child control.
         IEnumerator^ myEnum = control->Controls->GetEnumerator();
         while ( myEnum->MoveNext() )
         {
            Control^ childControl = safe_cast<Control^>(myEnum->Current);
            ResetAllControlsBackColor( childControl );
         }
      }
   }

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, Windows CE, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC

.NET Framework

.NET Compact Framework

Reference