How can I highlight the current cell in a DataGridView when SelectionMode=FullRowSelect

Question

I have an editable DataGridView with SelectionMode set to FullRowSelect (so the whole row is highlighted when the user clicks on any cell). However I would like the cell that currently has focus to be highlighted with a different back color (so the user can clearly see what cell they are about to edit). How can I do this (I do not want to change the SelectionMode)?

Answer 1

You want to use the DataGridView RowPostPaint method. Let the framework draw the row, and afterwards go back and color in the cell you're interested in.

An example is here at MSDN

Answer 2

I figured out a better way of doing this, using the CellFormatting event:

Private Sub uxContacts_CellFormatting(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.DataGridViewCellFormattingEventArgs) Handles uxContacts.CellFormatting
    If uxContacts.CurrentCell IsNot Nothing Then
        If e.RowIndex = uxContacts.CurrentCell.RowIndex And e.ColumnIndex = uxContacts.CurrentCell.ColumnIndex Then
            e.CellStyle.SelectionBackColor = Color.SteelBlue
        Else
            e.CellStyle.SelectionBackColor = uxContacts.DefaultCellStyle.SelectionBackColor
        End If
    End If
End Sub