Accessing context-sensitive help

To access the context-sensitive help for a given widget:

  1. Select the widget by putting focus on it (see the table below).
  2. Press the F1 key (Shift+F1 on Linux, Help on the Mac). Or, in dialogs, click on the Help button Help icon in the button bar.

This displays a description of the selected widget, and usually, a list of links to related information, in the help view. If you want more information than what is shown in the description, click a link to one of the related topic, or one of the search results appearing in the dynamic help section in the help view.

Context help displayed in the Help view

Depending on help preference settings, requesting context-sensitive help may display context help in an infopop instead of help view. You can dismiss the infopop by clicking outside it, or by pressing Esc.

Context help displayed as an infopop

If you want more information than what is shown in the infopop, click a link to the related information. This opens the Help browser to the selected topic and closes the infopop. The list of related links stays in the left hand frame, so you do not have to press F1 again if you are interested in other topics related to the same widget.

To access context sensitive help for a widget, you must put focus on it and then press F1. The following table shows how to put focus on some of the different kinds of widgets.

Widget type How to select it
Menu item (for example Save in the File menu) Let your mouse pointer rest over it so that it is highlighted, but don't click on it.
Field Put the cursor in the field.
Button (for example Cancel button on a Dialog) Tab until the button is in focus.
List Click an item in the list.
View or pane Click the title bar of the View or pane.
checkbox Click the checkbox (which changes its state) or use the Tab key to bring it into focus.

Note: Context-sensitive help is unavailable for toolbar buttons. Instead, let your mouse pointer hover over a toolbar button to view tooltip help for buttons.

Related concepts
Help
Help view

Related tasks
Navigating help topics
Searching help
Help display settings

Related reference
Help preferences