How to Pass Data Between Controller and View in ASP.NET MVC

Introduction

In ASP.NET MVC, communication between the Controller and View is very important.

The Controller processes requests and sends data to the View.
The View collects user input and sends it back to the Controller.

This two-way communication helps build dynamic web applications such as Create, Read, Update, Delete (CRUD) systems.

In this article, we will learn:

How to pass data Controller → View
How to pass data View → Controller
Different techniques
A simple CRUD example

Everything is explained in simple beginner-friendly steps.

MVC Architecture Overview

MVC stands for:

Component	Responsibility
Model	Handles data and business logic
View	Displays UI
Controller	Handles user requests

Example flow:

User → Controller → Model → Controller → View → User

Ways to Pass Data from Controller to View

There are four common methods.

Method	Type
ViewBag	Dynamic object
ViewData	Dictionary object
TempData	Temporary storage
Model	Strongly typed object

1 Passing Data Using ViewBag

ViewBag is a dynamic property used to pass small data.

Controller

public ActionResult Index()
{
    ViewBag.Name = "Abhay";
    ViewBag.City = "Ahmedabad";

    return View();
}

View

<h2>Name: @ViewBag.Name</h2>
<h2>City: @ViewBag.City</h2>

What is this?

Output

Name: AbhayCity: Ahmedabad

When to Use

Small data
Simple messages

2 Passing Data Using ViewData

ViewData works like a dictionary.

Controller

public ActionResult Index()
{
    ViewData["Course"] = "ASP.NET MVC";
    return View();
}

View

<h2>@ViewData["Course"]</h2>

What is this?

3 Passing Data Using TempData

TempData stores data until the next request.

Controller

public ActionResult Index()
{
    TempData["Message"] = "Record Saved Successfully";
    return RedirectToAction("Display");
}

public ActionResult Display()
{
    return View();
}

View

<h2>@TempData["Message"]</h2>

What is this?

4 Passing Data Using Model (Best Method)

This is the most recommended approach.

Step 1 Create Model

public class Student
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public int Age { get; set; }
}

Step 2 Controller

public ActionResult Details()
{
    Student s = new Student()
    {
        Id = 1,
        Name = "Abhay",
        Age = 22
    };

    return View(s);
}

Step 3 View

@model Student

<h2>ID: @Model.Id</h2>
<h2>Name: @Model.Name</h2>
<h2>Age: @Model.Age</h2>

Passing Data From View to Controller

Now let’s see how user input goes from View → Controller.

This is done using HTML forms.

Simple CRUD Example

We will build a simple Student CRUD system.

Step 1 Model

public class Student
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public int Age { get; set; }
}

Step 2 Controller

public class StudentController : Controller
{
    static List<Student> students = new List<Student>();

    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        return View(students);
    }

    public ActionResult Create()
    {
        return View();
    }

    [HttpPost]
    public ActionResult Create(Student s)
    {
        students.Add(s);
        return RedirectToAction("Index");
    }
}

Step 3 Create View

@model Student

@using (Html.BeginForm())
{
    <label>Name</label>
    @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.Name)

    <br/>

    <label>Age</label>
    @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.Age)

    <br/>

    <input type="submit" value="Save"/>
}

Here the form sends data to the controller.

Step 4 Display Data

View

@model List<Student>

<table border="1">
<tr>
    <th>ID</th>
    <th>Name</th>
    <th>Age</th>
</tr>

@foreach(var item in Model)
{
<tr>
    <td>@item.Id</td>
    <td>@item.Name</td>
    <td>@item.Age</td>
</tr>
}
</table>

Flow of Data in CRUD

User enters data in View ↓ Form submits to Controller ↓ Controller receives Model ↓ Data saved ↓ Controller sends updated data to View ↓ View displays result

Important Concepts

Model Binding

Model binding automatically converts form values into model objects.

Example:

Name → Student.Name
Age → Student.Age

MVC automatically maps them.

Best Practice for Beginners

Always prefer Model-based data passing instead of ViewBag or ViewData.

Example:

Good

return View(student);

Not recommended

ViewBag.Name = "Rahul";

Quick Comparison

Method	Strongly Typed	Usage
ViewBag	No	Small data
ViewData	No	Simple data
TempData	No	Between requests
Model	Yes	Best for real applications

Conclusion

Passing data between Controller and View is one of the most important concepts in ASP.NET MVC development.

Developers can use:

ViewBag
ViewData
TempData
Models

However, for real-world applications and CRUD operations, the Model approach is the most powerful and recommended method.