AvalonDock v5.0.0

A powerful WPF Document and Tool Window layout container for building Visual Studio-like docking interfaces.

What is AvalonDock?

AvalonDock is a WPF layout container that allows you to arrange documents and tool windows in ways similar to many well-known IDEs such as Visual Studio, Eclipse, and PhotoShop. It provides a complete docking system with floating windows, tabbed documents, auto-hide panels, and customizable themes.

AvalonDock is used by many open source and commercial projects, including Stride (game engine), Optick (profiler), RoslynPad (C# editor), DaxStudio (DAX query tool), Macad3D (3D CAD), and Microsoft’s Profile Explorer.

Key Features

Feature	Description
Dockable Panels	Dock tool windows to any side of the application, or float them freely.
Tabbed Documents	Organize documents in tabbed groups, split horizontally or vertically.
Auto-Hide	Minimize tool windows to side tabs, expanding on hover or click.
Floating Windows	Tear off any panel into an independent floating window.
Layout Serialization	Save and restore complex layouts via XML or JSON.
MVVM Support	First-class MVVM integration with view model binding.
Dependency Injection	Built-in DI support via `Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection`.
6 Built-in Themes	Arc, VS2013, VS2010, Expression, Metro, and Aero themes included.
Multi-Target	Supports .NET 9, .NET 10, and .NET Framework 4.8.

Quick Example

<Window x:Class="MyApp.MainWindow"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        xmlns:avalonDock="https://github.com/Dirkster99/AvalonDock">

    <avalonDock:DockingManager>
        <avalonDock:LayoutRoot>
            <avalonDock:LayoutPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
                <avalonDock:LayoutAnchorablePane DockWidth="250">
                    <avalonDock:LayoutAnchorable Title="Solution Explorer"
                                                  ContentId="solutionExplorer">
                        <TextBlock Text="Explorer content here" />
                    </avalonDock:LayoutAnchorable>
                </avalonDock:LayoutAnchorablePane>

                <avalonDock:LayoutDocumentPane>
                    <avalonDock:LayoutDocument Title="Document1.txt"
                                               ContentId="doc1">
                        <TextBox Text="Document content here" />
                    </avalonDock:LayoutDocument>
                </avalonDock:LayoutDocumentPane>
            </avalonDock:LayoutPanel>
        </avalonDock:LayoutRoot>
    </avalonDock:DockingManager>
</Window>

NuGet Packages

Package	Description
Dirkster.AvalonDock	Core docking library
Dirkster.AvalonDock.Mvvm	MVVM base classes (no external dependencies)
Dirkster.AvalonDock.Mvvm.CommunityToolkit	CommunityToolkit.Mvvm integration
Dirkster.AvalonDock.Themes.Arc	Modern Arc theme (Dark & Light)
Dirkster.AvalonDock.Themes.VS2013	VS2013 theme (Dark, Light, Blue)
Dirkster.AvalonDock.Themes.VS2010	VS2010 theme
Dirkster.AvalonDock.Themes.Expression	Expression Blend theme
Dirkster.AvalonDock.Themes.Metro	Metro/WinUI theme
Dirkster.AvalonDock.Themes.Aero	Classic Aero theme

Platform Support

Framework	Status
.NET 10	✅ Supported
.NET 9	✅ Supported
.NET Framework 4.8	✅ Supported

AvalonDock is a WPF library and runs exclusively on Windows.

Upgrading from v4?

If you are migrating from AvalonDock v4.x, see the Migration Guide for a complete list of breaking changes and step-by-step upgrade instructions.

License

AvalonDock is dual-licensed under the MS-PL and Apache 2.0 licenses. It is free for both commercial and open source use.