KeyPress Event in VB.NET

The KeyPress event is used in the Windows Form when a user presses a character, space, or backspace key during the focus on the control, the KeyPress event occurs. Furthermore, the keypress event is raised only when printable keys or numbers such as alphabets (a, b, c) are processed with Windows Form. It is not picked up by non-character keys such as Esc, Shift, Ctrl, etc. to raise the KeyPress event. The Non-character keys are used with KeyDown and KeyUp events in the VB.NET Windows application.

KeyDown event: The KeyDown event occurred when a user presses a key on the keyboard. It repeats while the user keeps the key depressed. The KeyDown event is provided by the Keyboard event in the VB.NET application.

KeyUp event: The KeyUp event is rising when a user releases a key on the keyboard. The KeyUp event is provided by the Keyboard event in the VB.NET application.

Let's create a simple program to display the KeyPressEvent in the VB.NET Windows Forms.

KeyPressEvent.vb

Public Class KeyPressEvent
    Private Sub KeyPress_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        Me.Text = "javatpoint.com" 'Set the title for the Windows form
        Label1.Text = "See KeyPress Event"
        Label2.Text = "Enter a single character"
        Button1.Text = "Press" 'Name of button
    End Sub
    Private Sub TextBox1_KeyPress(sender As Object, e As KeyPressEventArgs) Handles TextBox1.KeyPress
        If Asc(e.KeyChar) > 1 Then ' Asc function returns the ANSI value
            Button1.Focus() 'Transfer control to the button
        End If
    End Sub

    Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        MsgBox(" You have Pressed " & TextBox1.Text)
    End Sub
End Class

Output:

Press any printable key. We have pressed the key A.

After inserting a character, click on the Press button, it shows the following output.

Example of KeyDown Event

Let's create a simple program to display the use of KeyDown events in the VB.NET Windows Forms.

KeyDownEvent1.vb

Public Class KeyDownEvent1
    Private Sub KeyDownEvent1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        Me.Text = "javatpoint.com" 'Set the title for the Windows form
        Label1.Text = "Press Enter to use KeyDown Event"
    End Sub

    Private Sub KeyDownEvent1_KeyDown(sender As Object, e As KeyEventArgs) Handles Me.KeyDown
        If e.KeyCode = Keys.Enter Then ' If the condition is true if the block is executed.
            MsgBox("You have Pressed Enter")
        End If
    End Sub
End Class

Output:

Press the Enter button, it shows the image shown below.

Example of KeyUp Event

Let's create a simple program to display the use of KeyUp events in the VB.NET Windows Forms.

KeyUp.vb

Public Class KeyUp
    Private Sub KeyUp_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        Me.Text = "javatpoint.com" 'Set the title for the Windows form
        Label1.Text = "Use of KeyUp Event"
        Label1.ForeColor = Color.Red
    End Sub

    Private Sub KeyUp_KeyUp(sender As Object, e As KeyEventArgs) Handles Me.KeyUp
        If e.KeyCode = Keys.Enter Then ' If the condition is true if the block is executed.
            MsgBox(" Enter Key is up or released.")
        End If
    End Sub
End Class

Output: