Render partial view from different folder (not shared) in .Net MVC

In this blog post we will learn about how you to render partial views from different folders in your .NET MVC application. By default, partial views are usually stored in the "Shared" folder, but sometimes you may need to organize your views into separate folders based on your application's structure or for better maintainability.

The Problem

In a standard .NET MVC application, when you want to render a partial view, you typically use the @Html.Partial() or @Html.RenderPartial() methods. By default, these methods search for partial views in the "Shared" folder of your application's Views directory. However, if you want to render a partial view from a different folder, you need to take some additional steps.

The Solution

To render a partial view from a different folder, follow these steps:

1. Create a new folder: Start by creating a new folder in your Views directory to hold the partial views you want to render. You can name it anything you like, depending on your application's structure and naming conventions. For this example, let's call it "MyPartialViews".

2. Specify the folder path: In your main view or wherever you want to render the partial view, you need to specify the folder path along with the partial view name. You can do this by using the tilde (~) symbol to indicate the root of your application and then providing the relative path to your partial view. Here's an example:

@Html.Partial("~/Views/MyPartialViews/MyPartialView.cshtml")

Make sure to adjust the folder and partial view names based on your actual folder structure and file names.

3. Render the partial view: Finally, you can render the partial view using the @Html.Partial() or @Html.RenderPartial() methods as you normally would. The framework will now look for the partial view in the specified folder instead of the default "Shared" folder.

Rendering partial views from different folders in .NET MVC is a straightforward process. By specifying the folder path when calling @Html.Partial(), you can easily organize your views into separate folders while maintaining the flexibility and reusability of partial views.