The control styles, which depend on the control class, determine the control's appearance and function. You specify a control style when creating the control, by including the style (for example, BS_PUSHBUTTON) in the dwStyle parameter of the CreateWindow function.
Windows provides many predefined control styles. Following are some of the most common:
| Style | Description |
| BS_PUSHBUTTON | Specifies a push button, a small window containing a label that the user can choose in order to notify the parent window. |
| BS_DEFPUSHBUTTON | Specifies a default push button, which is identical to a push button except that it has a special border. |
| BS_CHECKBOX | Specifies a check box, which the user can select to turn the control on or off. When the control is on, the box contains an X. |
| BS_RADIOBUTTON | Specifies a radio button (a circle). The user can select the circle to turn the control on or off. When the control is on, the circle contains a solid bullet. |
| ES_LEFT | Specifies a single-line, left-aligned edit control. |
| ES_MULTILINE | Specifies a multiline edit control. |
| SS_LEFT | Specifies a left-aligned, static edit control. |
| SS_RIGHT | Specifies a right-aligned, static edit control. |
| LBS_STANDARD | Specifies a standard list box. A standard list box includes a scroll bar and notifies its parent window when the user makes a selection. |
| CBS_DROPDOWN | Specifies a combo box consisting of an edit control and a list box that is displayed when the user selects a box next to the selection field. If the user selects an item in the list box, the edit control displays the selected item. |
For a complete list of control styles, see the Microsoft Windows Programmer's Reference, Volume 4.