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ReportViewer doesn’t appear in the toolbox in Visual Studio
You’re trying to use the ReportViewer control in Visual Studio but it’s not in the toolbox.
Other symptoms:
- After manually adding the ReportViewer control to the toolbox clicking Design a new report does nothing.
- The RDLC report designer does not open and opening the RDLC file just opens the report markup.
Solution
Note: Tested in Visual Studio 2017 and Visual Studio 2019. The exact instructions may have slightly different steps depending on which version of VS you’re using.
There are two different problems to solve. First, you need to get the ReportViewer control. Second, if you want to be able to add local reports (.RDLC) and edit them using the report designer, then you’ll need to add the RDLC Report Designer extension.
Step 1 – Get the ReportViewer control
After this step, you’ll be able to see the ReportViewer control in the Visual Studio toolbox.
You can get the ReportViewer control by installing the appropriate nuget package.
If you’re using .NET Core
At this time, there doesn’t seem to be an official ReportViewer nuget package from Microsoft. Instead, you can use the ReportViewerCore.WinForms nuget package.
- Install the ReportViewer nuget package (View > Other Windows > Package Manager Console).
- Open a Windows Form.
- Drag and drop the ReportViewer control from Toolbox > Microsoft.ReportViewer.WinForms > ReportViewer.
If you’re using .NET Framework
- Install the ReportViewer nuget package ( View > Other Windows > Package Manager Console) .
After installing the nuget package, the ReportViewer control should now be in the toolbox (View > Toolbox > Microsoft SQL Server > ReportViewer).
If you don’t see it, you can add it manually with the steps below:
- Open Visual Studio.
- Click View > Toolbox.
- Right-click in the toolbox > Choose Items.
- In the .NET Framework Components tab, click Browse…
- Navigate to your solution’s nuget /packages/ directory and select the Microsoft.Reporting.WinForms.dll (or WebForms.dll):
- Verify the ReportViewer control is checked in the Toolbox items, then click OK.
Now you’ll be able to see the ReportViewer control in the toolbox and can drag it to a form.
Step 2 – Get RDLC Report Designer extension
To be able to add local report files (.RDLC) to your project and design them visually with the Report Designer, you’ll have to add the RDLC Report Designer extension.
- Open Visual Studio
- Click Extensions > Manage Extensions > Online.
- Search for RDLC Report Designer
- Select Microsoft RDLC Report Designer from the list and click Download (Note: This may say Install if it’s already been downloaded at some point).
- After it’s done downloading/installing, you’ll see a notification that says Your changes will be scheduled. The modifications will begin when all Microsoft Visual Studio windows are closed.
- Close Visual Studio.
- You should now see the VSIX Installer initializing.
- On the VSIX Installer prompt, click Modify.
- Wait for it to finish installing, then close the VSIX Installer window.
Now you can add a local report to your project (Add New Item > Report) and design it visually:

12 thoughts on “ReportViewer doesn’t appear in the toolbox in Visual Studio”
I am using VS 2019. I follow your instructions but after getting the Microsoft RDLC Report Designer and going to ‘choose toolbox items… the ‘ReportViewer’ is not in the list of .NET Components.
I tested the instructions in VS2019. This made me realize I needed to add more explicit steps, and also add a separate section for when you’re dealing with .NET Core projects.
Did you close VS2019 after adding the extension and let the VSIX installer run? If not, you’ll need to do that to see the ReportViewer component.
If you’re doing a .NET Core project, check the updated instructions in the article. You can install a nuget package instead of an extension, which is simpler.
I am using vs2019. Follow the instructions but same problem like A. Whiston. There is no reportview option in “.Net Framework Components” tab
Thanks! I ran the steps again and ran into the problem you’re talking about. For a .NET Framework project, I had to install the proper ReportViewer nuget package and then manually add the ReportViewer assembly to the toolbox from the nuget package.
Installing the RDLC Report Designer extension is needed to be able to add local report files and design them visually. This doesn’t get you the ReportViewer control though. That extension only brings *some* of the assemblies, but not all of them (like it’s missing Microsoft.ReportViewer.WinForms.dll).
I updated the article to explain that these are two different installation steps.
Ok, thanks for your reply, but now another issue originated. The report view is in the toolbox, but it shows a blank form when I drag and drop on the form.
I’m not able to recreate that problem. In a .NET Framework 4.6.1 WinForm project, I dragged the ReportViewer control to the form. It showed correctly. I wired it up to use a local report I added called Report.rdlc. When I run it, it renders the report correctly. The only time I don’t see the ReportViewer control is when using a .NET Core project. That apparently has no UI design support and you have to do everything programmatically or through the properties.
Please explain what you mean by “it shows a blank form”. Do you mean the ReportViewer control itself is not rendering in the designer, or is it not rendering a report when you run the program?
Are you using .NET Framework? Which version?
Are you using a WinForm project?
Thanks, Mak.Yes, .net framework with winform project. Now what I did, I designed the report in vs2010. It is working fine in vs2019 when I open the report form which I create in vs 2010.
Ok, so the report itself is rendering as blank. There can be many reasons for that.
Since reports you created in VS2010 work correctly, the rendering problem probably has to do with the report definition version. In VS2010, you’d have report definition version 2008. In VS2019, when you first create a report, it defaults to version 2008, but then if you add anything like a report parameter, it converts it to version 2016. There is probably some setting or feature related to version 2016 that is causing the rendering issue for you.
For reference, you can check the report definition version by looking at the RDLC file in Notepad. The top-level <Report> element will show the reportdefinition version.
Thanks for the guide – this was a big help moving a project from VB 2017 to 2022
How to add ReportViewer control in visual studio 2019?
How to add ReportViewer control in visual studio 2019?
Step 2 – Add ReportViewer to the toolbox
- Open Visual Studio.
- Click View > Toolbox.
- Right-click in the toolbox > Choose Items.
- In the .NET Framework Components tab, scroll down and check ReportViewer, then click OK.
How to add ReportViewer control in asp net?
To use the ReportViewer Control in a Web application
- Create a new Microsoft ASP.NET Web Site using either Microsoft Visual C# or Microsoft Visual Basic.
- Locate the ScriptManager control in the AJAX Extensions group in the Toolbox window, and drag it to the design surface of the Web form.
How to add ReportViewer to Toolbox?
To add the ReportViewer control to your project:
- If the Visual Studio toolbox is not visible, click View > Toolbox.
- In the toolbox, scroll to the Data section and look for the ReportViewer control.
- In the toolbox, select the ReportViewer control or the MicrosoftReportViewer control and drag it onto the default form.
How do I open Rdlc in design mode in Visual Studio 2019?
- go to Tools menu.
- select Extensions and Updates…
- now, from the left panel, choose online.
- from the top-right corner, search : rdlc report.
- choose Microsoft RDLC Report Designer and click download.
- when download completed, close the visual studio to let installation begin.
How do I open RDL in Visual Studio 2019?
- Install SSDT for Visual Studio if you haven’t already done so.
- Create a new project using the ‘Report Server Project’ template.
- Copy/move the .rdl file(s) you have into the folder for the newly created project (eg ..\Visual Studio 2015\Projects\My Report Project\My Report Project)
- Use the “Add Existing Item…”
How do I add Microsoft ReportViewer to WebForms?
Microsoft. ReportViewer. WebForms 10.0. 40219.1
- Install-Package Microsoft.ReportViewer.WebForms -Version 10.0.40219.1.
- dotnet add package Microsoft.ReportViewer.WebForms –version 10.0.40219.1.
How do I know if Report Viewer is installed?
On the server, click Start and type ‘Control Panel’. Select Programs and then Programs and Features. Check that Microsoft Report Viewer 2015 Runtime is installed.
How do I add a Report Viewer in Visual Studio 2015?
The Report View is part of the Microsoft SQL Server Data Tools. After install the Microsoft SQL Server Data Tools. Then you can find the Report Viewer in the toolbox.
How do I open Report Designer in Visual Studio?
To start Report Designer In the Project Types list, click Business Intelligence Projects. Type a name and location for the project, or click Browse and select a location. Click OK. SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) opens with the Visual Studio start page.
How do I open Rdlc design mode?
To work with both Report Dataset Designer and Visual Studio Report Designer
- In the development environment, on the Tools menu, choose Object Designer.
- To modify an RDLC report, in Object Designer, choose Report, select the report that you want to modify, and then choose Design.
- On the View menu, choose Layout.
What is difference between Rdlc and RDL?
RDL and RDLC formats have the same XML schema. However, in RDLC files, some values (such as query text) are allowed to be empty, which means that they are not immediately ready to be published to a Report Server. By manually binding data, RDL files can be used in the ReportViewer control.
Why is the report viewer not in Visual Studio?
You’re trying to use the ReportViewer control in Visual Studio but it’s not in the toolbox. After manually adding the ReportViewer control to the toolbox clicking Design a new report does nothing. The RDLC report designer does not open and opening the RDLC file just opens the report markup.
Is the RDLC Report Designer open in Visual Studio?
The RDLC report designer does not open and opening the RDLC file just opens the report markup. Note: Tested in Visual Studio 2017 and Visual Studio 2019. The exact instructions may have slightly different steps depending on which version of VS you’re using.
How do I install report designer in Visual Studio?
In the steps below, I’ll show how to add the ReportViewer extension. Click Extensions > Manage Extensions > Online. Select Microsoft RDLC Report Designer from the list and click Download (Note: This may say Install if it’s already been downloaded at some point).
Building Reports from a DataSet using ReportViewer
1. Open your Visual Studio editor and create a new Windows Application. Add form to your project and navigate to the toolbox to add ReportViewer tools. Drag and drop the tools to your form.

Add ReportViewer
2. Dock ReportViewer to your form. Like the image below.

Dock ReportViewer
3. Add Dataset to your project by simply right clicking on your project name and selecting Add-New Item

Add New Item
4. Select data from the left pane and search for Dataset from the middle pane

Add Dataset
5. Open Dataset you just added and add DataTable. See image below.

Create DataTable
6. Add a column to your table.

Add Column
7. Add Report to your project (RDLC file). Right-click again on your project name in your solution explorer. Choose Add from the pop-up option and select New Item. On the dialog, select Reporting from the left pane and choose Report from the middle pane.

Add RDLC Report
8. Open your RDLC report then add List tools from your toolbox located on the left side of your RDLC designer.

Add List
9. Choose Dataset for your List Table. In my case it is Dataset1.

Choose DataSource
10. Add a column to your list by simply right clicking on any cell and selecting Insert Column.

Add Column
11. Manually add column name to your List Table from your DataTable. See image below.

Add Column name
12. This is my final view of the design for my RDLC report.

Final RDLC Design
13. To add Data to our list and display it in our report viewer from our form. Copy the code below. I write my code inside the form load event.
Note:
ReportViewer.Report1.rdlc
| ReportViewer | Name of my project |
| Report1.rdlc | Name of the RDLC report |
| DataSet1 | Dataset Name |
14. Run your project by simply clicking F5 on your keyboard.

Final View
That’s it. You have successfully created a report using reportviewer. Hopes this helps. Happy Coding!!