The active tab (also referred to as the current tab or selected tab) is the tab that is currently the selected tab, usually in the front row (Current property). The tab text also receives a focus rectangle when the tab control has the input focus (FocusHighlightStyle property).

The current tab can be changed by the user using the mouse or the keyboard. An application uses the Current property to change the currently active tab.

It is possible that none of the tabs in a tab control is active. In this case the Current property is set to -1.

Based on the property BoldActive, the current tab may use a bold font and inactive tabs use a normal font.