Management of controls in a graphical user interface (GUI) of a computer system. In one aspect, a command is received to create and display a window in the GUI, the window including one or more controls, each control operative to perform a function of an application in response to selection. An associated scope for each control is determined and indicates an extent of shared use of the control within the GUI. It is determined if a different instance of the control already exists within the scope for the control. If so, resources of the different instance are referenced to be shared for use with the control and new resources are not created for the control. If no different instance exists within the scope, new resources for the control are created and stored. The window and the controls in the GUI are displayed.