---
title: "Difference between Server control and User control in asp.net"
description: "In this blog I will talk about server control and user control in ASP.NET User Control1.User control is a page file with extension .ascx which can on"
author: "priyanka kushwaha"
published: 2015-02-20
updated: 2015-02-20
canonical: https://www.mindstick.com/blog/780/difference-between-server-control-and-user-control-in-asp-dot-net
category: ".net"
tags: ["asp.net"]
reading_time: 2 minutes
---
# Difference between Server control and User control in asp.net
In this blog I will talk about server control and [user control](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/294/problem-in-access-the-control-inside-the-user-control) in [ASP.NET](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/934/default-folders-available-inside-the-asp-dot-net-application-folder)\
User Control
1. User control is a page file with [extension](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/22/extension-method) .ascx which can only be used within single application.
2. [User controls](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/343/logon-and-logoff-user-controls-how-to-set-isauthenticated-is-true) cannot be added to the toolbox of [visual studio](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/12378/visual-studio-for-mac-is-out-of-beta-preview-now-officially-available).NET. To use a user control with in an [aspx page](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/218/how-do-i-create-an-aspx-page-that-periodically-refreshes-itself) you have to drag the user control from the solution [explorer](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/34658/want-to-developed-windows-explorer-without-using-telerik) to designer Page.
3. User Controls can be viewed as a sort of generic controls during the design time. The proper GUI of user controls can be viewed only during the run time.
##### Server control
1. Custom controls are assemblies (.dll files) that can be used in [multiple](https://www.mindstick.com/blog/12797/iowa-is-expected-to-see-heavy-growth-in-multiple-sectors) application.
2. It can be added to toolbox of VS.NET.
3. It can be viewed during the design time
##### Example:
User control:
Right click on solution Explorer>>Select Add option>>select New Item>>Web User control>>WebUserControl.ascx
```
<%@ Control Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeBehind="WebUserControl.ascx.cs" Inherits="UserComtrolSample.WebUserControl" %>
```
Create a Default.[aspx file](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/108/is-it-possible-to-see-the-code-that-asp-dot-net-generates-from-an-aspx-file)
Drag a drop webusercontrol.ascx on Default.aspx file
```
```
##### Example for Server control
Right click on solution Explorer>>Select Add option>>select New Item>>server control>>ServerControl.ascx
```
using System;using System.Collections.Generic;using System.ComponentModel;using System.Linq;using System.Text;using System.Threading.Tasks;using System.Web;using System.Web.UI;using System.Web.UI.WebControls;namespace CustomEmailControl.Controls{public class RequiredTextBox : TextBox { private RequiredFieldValidator _required; private RegularExpressionValidator reqexp; public string InvalidMessage; public string RexInvalidMessage; public string ClientScript = "true"; protected override void OnInit(EventArgs e) { _required = new RequiredFieldValidator(); _required.ControlToValidate = this.ID; _required.ErrorMessage = this.InvalidMessage; _required.EnableClientScript = (this.ClientScript.ToLower() != "false"); Controls.Add(_required); } protected override void Render(HtmlTextWriter w) { base.Render(w); _required.RenderControl(w); } }}
```
Built solution explorer
Create a Default.aspx>>select toolbox>> add customControl.dll
```
<%@ Page Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeBehind="Default.aspx.cs" Inherits="CustomEmailControl.Default" %><%@ Register Assembly="CustomEmailControl" Namespace="CustomEmailControl.Controls" TagPrefix="cc2" %>
```
##### Output:
****
****
---
Original Source: https://www.mindstick.com/blog/780/difference-between-server-control-and-user-control-in-asp-dot-net
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