could use DrawItem event, to make it work, need set DrawMode property to OwnerDrawFixed. private void comboBox1_DrawItem(object sender, DrawItemEventArgs e) { if ((e.State & DrawItemState.Selected) == DrawItemState.Selected) { lblSelectText.Text = this.comboBox1.Items[e.Index].ToString(); } e.DrawBackground(); // draw text strings e.Graphics.DrawString( comboBox1.Items[e.Index].ToString(), e.Font, Brushes.Black, new Point(e.Bounds.X, e.Bounds.Y)); }