In this article I will explain with an example, how to set Default Selected Value for DropDownList using the @Html.DropDownListFor Helper method in ASP.Net MVC Razor.
 
Note: For beginners in ASP.Net MVC, please refer my article ASP.Net MVC Hello World Tutorial with Sample Program example.
 
Model
Following is a Model class named PersonModel with four properties i.e. PersonId, Name, Gender and City.
public class PersonModel
{
    ///<summary>
    /// Gets or sets PersonId.
    ///</summary>
    public int PersonId { get; set; }
 
    ///<summary>
    /// Gets or sets Name.
    ///</summary>
    public string Name { get; set; }
 
    ///<summary>
    /// Gets or sets Gender.
    ///</summary>
    public string Gender { get; set; }
 
    ///<summary>
    /// Gets or sets City.
    ///</summary>
    public string City { get; set; }
}
 
 
Controller
Then you will need to add a Controller class to your project. There are two Action methods with the name Index, one for handling the GET operation while other for handling the POST operation.
The Action method for POST operation accepts an object of the PersonModel class as parameter. The values posted from the Form inside the View are received through this parameter.
public class HomeController : Controller
{
    // GET: Home
    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        return View();
    }
 
    [HttpPost]
    public ActionResult Index(PersonModel person)
    {
        int personId = person.PersonId;
        string name = person.Name;
        string gender = person.Gender;
        string city = person.City;
 
        return View();
    }
}
 
 
View
Next step is to add a View for the Controller and while adding you will need to select the PersonModel class created earlier.
@Html.DropDownListFor set Default Selected value in ASP.Net MVC
Inside the View, in the very first line the PersonModel class is declared as Model for the View.
The View consists of an HTML Form which has been created using the Html.BeginForm method with the following parameters.
ActionName – Name of the Action. In this case the name is Index.
ControllerName – Name of the Controller. In this case the name is Home.
FormMethod – It specifies the Form Method i.e. GET or POST. In this case it will be set to POST.
There are three TextBox fields created for capturing values for PersonId, Name and City using the Html.TextBoxFor method. While for capturing the Gender value, a DropDownList with three options is created using the Html.DropDownListFor function.
There’s also a Submit Button at the end of the Form and when the Button is clicked, the Form is submitted.
@model Form_Post_MVC.Models.PersonModel
 
@{
    Layout = null;
}
 
<!DOCTYPE html>
 
<html>
<head>
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width"/>
    <title>Index</title>
</head>
<body>
    @using (Html.BeginForm("Index", "Home", FormMethod.Post))
    {
        <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
            <tr>
                <th colspan="2" align="center">Person Details</th>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>PersonId: </td>
                <td>
                    @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.PersonId)
                </td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Name: </td>
                <td>
                    @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.Name)
                </td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Gender: </td>
                <td>
                    @Html.DropDownListFor(m => m.Gender, new List<SelectListItem>
                   { new SelectListItem{Text="Male", Value="M"},
                     new SelectListItem{Text="Female", Value="F"}}, "Please select")
                </td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>City: </td>
                <td>
                    @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.City)
                </td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td></td>
                <td><input type="submit" value="Submit"/></td>
            </tr>
        </table>
    }
</body>
</html>
 
 
Screenshots
The Form
@Html.DropDownListFor set Default Selected value in ASP.Net MVC
Values captured in Controller when Form is submitted
@Html.DropDownListFor set Default Selected value in ASP.Net MVC
 
 
Downloads
Download Code