TextBox.PasswordChar Property (System.Windows.Forms)

PasswordChar Property

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This page is specific to

Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

Other versions are also available for the following:

.NET Framework Class Library

TextBox..::.PasswordChar Property

Gets or sets the character used to mask characters of a password in a single-line TextBox control.

Namespace: System.Windows.Forms
Assembly: System.Windows.Forms (in System.Windows.Forms.dll)

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

Public Property PasswordChar As Char

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim instance As TextBox
Dim value As Char

value = instance.PasswordChar

instance.PasswordChar = value

public char PasswordChar { get; set; }

Visual C++

public:
property wchar_t PasswordChar {
    wchar_t get ();
    void set (wchar_t value);
}

JScript

public function get PasswordChar () : char
public function set PasswordChar (value : char)

Property Value

Type: System..::.Char
The character used to mask characters entered in a single-line TextBox control. Set the value of this property to 0 (character value) if you do not want the control to mask characters as they are typed. Equals 0 (character value) by default.

Remarks

The UseSystemPasswordChar property has precedence over the PasswordChar property. Whenever the UseSystemPasswordChar is set to true, the default system password character is used and any character set by PasswordChar is ignored.

When the PasswordChar property is set to true, cut, copy, and paste actions in the control using the keyboard cannot be performed, regardless of whether the Multiline property is set to true or false.

Important Note:
When the TextBox is in password mode because PasswordChar, UseSystemPasswordChar, or ReadOnly is true, the TextBox is in restricted mode. In this mode, the ImeMode is disabled, but the current ImeMode is cached so that it can be restored if the TextBox ever becomes unrestricted. Toggling the ReadOnly is a common scenario. The ImeMode is shadowed while the control is in restricted mode. From the designer perspective, the ImeMode value shown is the actual value.

Important Note:

When the TextBox is in password mode because PasswordChar, UseSystemPasswordChar, or ReadOnly is true, the TextBox is in restricted mode. In this mode, the ImeMode is disabled, but the current ImeMode is cached so that it can be restored if the TextBox ever becomes unrestricted. Toggling the ReadOnly is a common scenario. The ImeMode is shadowed while the control is in restricted mode. From the designer perspective, the ImeMode value shown is the actual value.

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

On the .NET Compact Framework, if the Multiline property is set to true, setting the PasswordChar property has no visual effect.

Examples

The following code example creates a TextBox control that is used to accept a password. This example uses the CharacterCasing property to change all characters typed to uppercase and the MaxLength property to restrict the password length to eight characters. This example also uses the TextAlign property to center the password in the TextBox control.

Visual Basic

Public Sub CreateMyPasswordTextBox()
    ' Create an instance of the TextBox control.
    Dim textBox1 As New TextBox()
    ' Set the maximum length of text in the control to eight.
    textBox1.MaxLength = 8
    ' Assign the asterisk to be the password character.
    textBox1.PasswordChar = "*"c
    ' Change all text entered to be lowercase.
    textBox1.CharacterCasing = CharacterCasing.Lower
    ' Align the text in the center of the TextBox control.
    textBox1.TextAlign = HorizontalAlignment.Center
End Sub

public void CreateMyPasswordTextBox()
 {
    // Create an instance of the TextBox control.
    TextBox textBox1 = new TextBox();
    // Set the maximum length of text in the control to eight.
    textBox1.MaxLength = 8;
    // Assign the asterisk to be the password character.
    textBox1.PasswordChar = '*';
    // Change all text entered to be lowercase.
    textBox1.CharacterCasing = CharacterCasing.Lower;
    // Align the text in the center of the TextBox control.
    textBox1.TextAlign = HorizontalAlignment.Center;
 }

Visual C++

public:
   void CreateMyPasswordTextBox()
   {
      // Create an instance of the TextBox control.
      TextBox^ textBox1 = gcnew TextBox;
      // Set the maximum length of text in the control to eight.
      textBox1->MaxLength = 8;
      // Assign the asterisk to be the password character.
      textBox1->PasswordChar = '*';
      // Change all text entered to be lowercase.
      textBox1->CharacterCasing = CharacterCasing::Lower;
      // Align the text in the center of the TextBox control.
      textBox1->TextAlign = HorizontalAlignment::Center;
   }

JScript

public function CreateMyPasswordTextBox()
 {
    // Create an instance of the TextBox control.
    textBox1 = new TextBox();
    // Set the maximum length of text in the control to eight.
    textBox1.MaxLength = 8;
    // Assign the asterisk to be the password character.
    textBox1.PasswordChar = '*';
    // Change all text entered to be lowercase.
    textBox1.CharacterCasing = CharacterCasing.Lower;
    // Align the text in the center of the TextBox control.
    textBox1.TextAlign = HorizontalAlignment.Center;
 }

Platforms

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

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, 1.1, 1.0

.NET Compact Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 2.0, 1.0

Reference

TextBox Class

TextBox Members

System.Windows.Forms Namespace