Textbox Control with TEXT in background

It would be better to create a custom TextBox control,
but here is something quickly hard-coded to give you a idea.

Find what event gives you desired result etc......


For simple example make sure textbox1 tabindex is not 1

Public Class Form1

Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load

TextBox1.ForeColor = Color.LightSlateGray

TextBox1.Text = "Enter Search Criteria"

End Sub

Private Sub TextBox1_Leave(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles TextBox1.Leave

If TextBox1.Text = "" Then

            TextBox1.ForeColor = Color.LightSlateGray

TextBox1.Text = "Enter Search Criteria"

End If

End Sub

Private Sub TextBox1_Enter(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles TextBox1.Enter

If TextBox1.Text = "Enter Search Criteria" Then

TextBox1.Text = ""

TextBox1.ForeColor = Color.Black

End If

End Sub

End Class

Output::