How to set/change/remove focus style on a Button in C#?

Question

Is this the effect you are looking for?

public class NoFocusCueButton : Button
{
    protected override bool ShowFocusCues
    {
        get
        {
            return false;
        }
    }
}

You can use this custom button class just like a regular button, but it won't give you an extra rectangle on focus.

I had the same issue with the annoying double border, and stumbled across this thread looking for an answer...

The way I solved this was to set the BorderSize to 0 then draw my own border in OnPaint

*Note: Not the entire button, just the border

A simple example would be:

public class CustomButton : Button
{
    public CustomButton()
        : base()
    {
        // Prevent the button from drawing its own border
        FlatAppearance.BorderSize = 0;
        FlatStyle = System.Windows.Forms.FlatStyle.Flat;
    }

    protected override void OnPaint(PaintEventArgs e)
    {
        base.OnPaint(e);

        // Draw Border using color specified in Flat Appearance
        Pen pen = new Pen(FlatAppearance.BorderColor, 1);
        Rectangle rectangle = new Rectangle(0, 0, Size.Width - 1, Size.Height - 1);
        e.Graphics.DrawRectangle(pen, rectangle);
    }
}

In my case, this is how I made a button that mimics a ToolStripButton, where the border is only visible when you hover over the button:

public class ToolButton : Button
{
    private bool ShowBorder { get; set; }

    public ToolButton()
        : base()
    {
        // Prevent the button from drawing its own border
        FlatAppearance.BorderSize = 0;

        // Set up a blue border and back colors for the button
        FlatAppearance.BorderColor = Color.FromArgb(51, 153, 255);
        FlatAppearance.CheckedBackColor = Color.FromArgb(153, 204, 255);
        FlatAppearance.MouseDownBackColor = Color.FromArgb(153, 204, 255);
        FlatAppearance.MouseOverBackColor = Color.FromArgb(194, 224, 255);
        FlatStyle = System.Windows.Forms.FlatStyle.Flat;

        // Set the size for the button to be the same as a ToolStripButton
        Size = new System.Drawing.Size(23, 22);
    }

    protected override void OnMouseEnter(EventArgs e)
    {
        base.OnMouseEnter(e);

        // Show the border when you hover over the button
        ShowBorder = true;
    }

    protected override void OnMouseLeave(EventArgs e)
    {
        base.OnMouseLeave(e);

        // Hide the border when you leave the button
        ShowBorder = false;
    }

    protected override void OnPaint(PaintEventArgs e)
    {
        base.OnPaint(e);

        // The DesignMode check here causes the border to always draw in the Designer
        // This makes it easier to place your button
        if (DesignMode || ShowBorder)
        {
            Pen pen = new Pen(FlatAppearance.BorderColor, 1);
            Rectangle rectangle = new Rectangle(0, 0, Size.Width - 1, Size.Height - 1);
            e.Graphics.DrawRectangle(pen, rectangle);
        }
    }



    // Prevent Text from being set on the button (since it will be an icon)
    [Browsable(false)]
    public override string Text { get { return ""; } set { base.Text = ""; } }

    [Browsable(false)]
    public override ContentAlignment TextAlign { get { return base.TextAlign; } set { base.TextAlign = value; } }
}

Make a custom button:

public partial class CustomButton: Button
{
    public ButtonPageButton()
    {
        InitializeComponent();

        this.SetStyle(ControlStyles.Selectable, false);
    }
}

That'll get rid of that annoying border! ;-)

Another option (although a bit hacktastic) is to attach an event-handler to the button's GotFocus event. In that event-handler, pass a value of False to the button's NotifyDefault() method. So, for instance:

void myButton_GotFocus(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
  myButton.NotifyDefault(false);
}

I'm assuming this will work every time, but I haven't tested it extensively. It's working for me for now, so I'm satisfied with that.

There is another way which works well for flat styled buttons. Don't use buttons but labels. As you are completely replacing the UI for the button it does not matter whether your use a button control or a label. Just handle the click in the same way.

This worked for me, although not great practice it is a good hack and as long as you name the button obviously (and comment the source) other coders will pick up the idea.

Ryan