Home > Working with objects > Group or ungroup objects

Print this page

Group or ungroup objects

Grouping two or more objects in Microsoft® Expression Blend™ creates a new layout panel and places those objects within that layout panel. Placing two or more objects together in a layout panel enables you to easily select, move, and transform the group as if the objects in that group were one object. Grouping is also useful for identifying objects that are related to each other in some way, such as the various buttons that make up a navigation element.  When you ungroup objects, you are simply deleting the layout panel that contained the objects.

To select or move an individual object within a layout panel, or to edit the properties of an individual object, use Direct Selection to select the object. To rotate or transform only the selected object, click Selection after selecting the object with Direct Selection .

To group objects into a new layout panel

1. Select the objects that you want to group.
2. On the Object menu, point to Group Into, and then click the type of layout panel in which you want the group to reside.

If you select Viewbox, Border, or ScrollViewer to group your objects, the objects are placed in a new Grid panel within the Viewbox, Border, or ScrollViewer. If you ungroup objects in one of these layout panels, only the Viewbox, Border, or ScrollViewer is deleted, while the Grid panel remains. To delete the Grid panel, ungroup the objects again.

To ungroup objects and delete their layout panel

1. Select the groups that you want to ungroup.
2. On the Object menu, click Ungroup.

You can also group or ungroup objects by using Group Into or Ungroup when you right-click the selected items in the project window.

For information about how to select objects in Expression Blend, see Select or deselect objects. For information about different types of layout panels, see Layout system.