Stream myStream = null; OpenFileDialog openFileDialog1 = new OpenFileDialog(); openFileDialog1.InitialDirectory = "c://"; openFileDialog1.Filter = "txt files (*.txt)|*.txt|All files (*.*)|*.*"; openFileDialog1.FilterIndex = 2; openFileDialog1.RestoreDirectory = true; if (openFileDialog1.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK) { try { if ((myStream = openFileDialog1.OpenFile()) != null) { using (myStream) { StreamReader myreader = new StreamReader(myStream); textBox1.Text = myreader.ReadToEnd(); } } } catch (Exception ex) { MessageBox.Show("Error: Could not read file from disk. Original error: " + ex.Message); } }