This might give a better answer to you. http://forum.java.sun.com/thread.jspa?threadID=779711&messageID=4436227 I have faced similar problems too when I tried to add buttions outside of init(). So I choose to do the Enable and Disable. You dont have to change the layout too. But what when to want to show a picture upon clicking the button? The picture will come on the way. It seems setVisible doesnt work anywhere outside.