How to Fill a Dropdown with Enum Values in C#

To fill the dropdown with values from the CarBrand enum, set the DataSource property to Enum.GetValues(), like this:

dropDownListCars.DataSource = Enum.GetValues(typeof(CarBrand));

If you need to show the enum’s Description attribute instead of its name, check out how to display user-friendly descriptions.

To get the selected value from the dropdown, use:

var selectedCar = (CarBrand)dropDownListCars.SelectedItem;

When the form loads, the dropdown is automatically populated with car brands from the CarBrand enum.

Binding to an Enum Property

If your controls are bound to an object, and one of the object’s properties is an enum, you can bind it to a dropdown like this:

person = new Person()
{
    Name = "Alice",
    FavoriteCar = CarBrand.Toyota
};

// Auto-populate the dropdown with enum values
dropDownListCars.DataSource = Enum.GetValues(typeof(CarBrand));

// Bind the enum property
dropDownListCars.DataBindings.Add(nameof(ComboBox.SelectedItem), person, nameof(person.FavoriteCar));

This approach ensures that your dropdown automatically displays all possible values and correctly binds to the FavoriteCar property in the Person object.