[Update: This article is relevant for Visual Studio 2019/2017/Others as well]
Where’s the Visual Studio 2013 Visual Basic PowerPack?
Note the VisualBasic PowerPack is not part of Visual Studio 2013 install, it comes as separate MSI. The download link for Visual Basic Powerpack for Visual Studio 2013 is hard to find online as well. I found the link from our internal support article.
Download VB Powerpack (direct link to bits): http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=321343
Steps to Install Visual Studio 2013 Visual Basic PowerPack
Installing Visual Basic Powerpacks
Please close any open instances of Visual Studio 2013. Once the installation completes and if you still don’t see the Powerpack controls in the toolbox. Do the following.
- Open Visual Studio 2013
- Open the toolbox. Add a new tab, right click on the toolbox, select “Add Tab”. Name the tab to “Visual Basic PowerPack”
- Expand the new “Tab”. Right click in the empty space under the new tab and select “Choose Item”. You’ll see the following dialog popup…
Adding reference to Visual Basic powerpack
- Please give it few minutes to load all items. Please select “.Net Framework Components” tab if its not already selected.
- In the filter text box control please type in “Power”. You should see something like this in the above dialog…
Choose toolbox items
- Check the relevant ones and add them to your toolbox as shown below…
Adding filter for powerpack in the Choose toolbox items dialog
- Once you click ok, you should see the following controls added to your toolbox…
PowerPack controls listed in VS toolbox
- In my case I’ve added all powerpack controls to my toolbox.
- You might also have to add a reference to this new powerpack library if you still see compilation errors. Be aware that the assembly name has changed as well…
Adding reference to new powerpack library
Conclusion
We’ve had couple of customer’s who report that Visual Basic powerpack is missing from Visual Studio 2013.
http://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/801421/microsoft-visualbasic-powerpacks-vs-dll
Enjoy the powerpack.
79 Responses to “VisualBasic PowerPack missing from Visual Studio 2013?”
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Hi Nibu
Thanks for the really clear instructions to resolve the Powerpack problem as searching the net gave many incomplete answers to the process until I found your solution.
You’re welcome.
Recently moved from Winform application to VS 2017 from VS 2012. All my forms looked weird without the lines and rectangle shapes. Your Solution was very useful for adding VB Powerpacks in the toolbox and got my application back to decent look. Thanks a ton !!!
you’re welcome!
Thanks that was really helpfully Thank you Again.. 🙂
You’re welcome.
Great…thanks a lot to solve my problem…u r hero
Sure, anytime.
thank you
Really, thank you.
Why Microsoft enjoy so much, make all so inaccessible?
Lol, I can understand.
Thank you. It is working for visual studio 2015 as well.
Awesome.
THANK YOU!!!!!
thank you. you saved my time
Is VS powerpack considered a third party tools?
Almost worked for me. I installed the MSI, and went into VS 2013 (Community) and was able to add the DataRepeater (v12). Then I thought I should probably add the other controls as well, and went back into the toolbox Choose Items dialog a second time, selected the V12 controls, and clicked OK. But they were not added to the tab I’d created for the PowerPack. Not sure why the DataRepeater was added but not the other controls. So I deleted Pointer and DataRepeater from the toolbox tab, and tried again, and now I can’t get ANY of the controls into the toolbox. 🙁
is visual basic power pack applicable for vb 6.0 ?
IN vs 2013 COMMUNITY EDITION FIRST DOWNLOAD POWER PACK 3 THEN FOLLOW THE ABOVE STEP DESCRIBE BY NIBU THOMAS. THANK U NIBU.
thanks bro u made my day…………..
thank you very much, on the website of Microsoft there is no such information
Thank u ,it is really helpful
thank you so much… it’s done
Excellent. Thanks a lot !!!
Thank you indeed. Instructions too! I’m using the PrintForm component, which is not easily replaceable.
Thank you very much. I teach design and simulation of various mechanisms that include moving lines, rectangles and oval shapes. All my programs depended on PowerPacks. Thank you very much.
Massoud Raji/ 74/ , Neyshabur, IRAN
You’re welcome. God bless you! Great to hear!
Many thanks. God Bless you.
thank you very much
Thank you very much!! Was at a lost as to where to find these tools. Much appreciated!
Thanks! I truly hope it’s simply part of visual studio 2015, i completely skipped 2013 due to this and stayed with 2012.
This is great, thanks.. unlike the MSDN help which is near useless re power pack controls. I still can’t believe base VS has no shape controls!!!
how to add references ?? pllzzzz
You can do an online search for this.
Thanks a lot. Will you give me a right to translate this atrticle into the Japanese language and open to public(my blog or web-site)?
Sure. We’ll appreciate if you can leave a link back to this original post.
Thank you for approval. I’ll do it within a few days.
Hi, Nibu,
I’ve translated this article into Japanese, and published it on my blog. There a link to this post, added.
It’s here:
http://blog.goo.ne.jp/ashm314/e/932755fa3ed6fcdd08d8867010c4d077
Are there anyone around you who can read Japanese?
Thank you.
Thank you! No one around me with Japanese skills, but looks ok to me.
I can’t find the Powerpacks.Vs Reference? only Powerpacks.Design
What’s the Visual studio SKU? Professional, Ultimate…? May be just reinstall the powerpack?
You are amazing. New to VB and this helped a million.
Thanks
You’re welcome Robert!
Thank you very much!!!!!
Being a beginner of VB, this Powerpacks is really helpful to me =)))
You’re most welcome Randy!
thanks a million!!!!!
You’re welcome Orangina!
The problem solved by reopen the project, thanks for your help!
You’re welcome Han!
Follow the step I can create new powerpack component in my project, but I can’t see my OvalShape component in the Design Page which I create by powerpack 10 using vs2010, but the attribute is still exists. What should I do to show them out?
Can you share out a repro to help me reproduce the issue at my end?
Thanks… I was Looking for it
You’re welcome Geo!
Thanks a million!! I had long installed powerpacks, but couldn’t figure out how to use them on my Visual Studio 2013 express..
Thought that they might not be available on VS 2013 express.. Until I found this article.. Thanks again
You’re welcome Prashant!
Thank you, very good!!!
Thanks! I could not find the Print Form control and this solved my issue!
Thank you Nibu. Using VS Express 2013 on Win7. Just getting around to porting my VB6 work into this newfangled century; your blog helps a lot.
Thank you sooo much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks
Thank you for this, it helped a lot
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!∞
Thanks for Your advice – Now I have the power Tools!
Thank you very much . It works !!!
I have only the two windos tabs what must i do now?
Thank you so much! I was pulling my hair out over this!!
Thanks, I’m a newbie on this subject and with your assistance I was able to make a program work on Visual Studio 2013, on Windows 8 pro
my Dear Thanx a lot. I have spent a lot of my time for this. Thank u so much
It worked on my 2013 express… On win8.1 pc
Wow, that’s interesting. What was your upgrade sequence? Did you have an earlier version of VS Express already installed when you installed VS 2013 Express? I’ve tried installing VS 2013 Express both with and without VS 2012 installed, and in neither case did 2013 include the VB PowerPacks.
Any thoughts as to why your VS 2013 Express might include the power packs while mine (and others) don’t?
This didn’t work for me.
I’m running Visual Studio Express 2013 on Windows 8.1 with .NET 4.5.
I followed the link you provided, but the installer looked different than the one you showed, and it installed VB Power Pack 10.0, not 12.0 as your image showed.
Once installed, I opened VS and one of my Forms projects. The Toolbox still showed no power pack items, so I followed your instruction, adding a new group to the Toolbox called Visual Basic PowerPack. I then tried to add the PowerPack items to the new group, but they weren’t listed on the .NET Framework Components tab.
What am I missing here?
Thanks.
Not sure if Powerpack is made available for Visual Studio Express. I’ll have to check this out. Give me some time.
Thanks for checking. I used power packs in VS Express 2012 with no problem.
This was helpful. Thank you.
Welcome to ntcoder Kostas. You are welcome.
I spent a day trying to find out what’s wrong.
Thank you.
great. thank you
You are welcome.
I did it. thank you. I have now power pack toolbox.