Help command
The help command is used to access the information and help file from an MS-DOS prompt or the Windows command line.
Quick reference tip
For quick help with MS-DOS commands in any of the version, use the -help or /? after a command. For example, running either of the following two commands gives you additional information about the dir command.
dir -help
or
dir /?
Availability
Help is an external command and is available for the following Microsoft operating systems. With MS-DOS 5.x, help.exe was used as the external file. MS-DOS 6.x uses help.com as the external file. Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows XP, and later versions of Windows use help.exe as the external file.
- MS-DOS 5.0 and above
- Windows 95
- Windows 98
- Windows 2000
- Windows XP
- Windows Vista
- Windows 7
- Windows 8
- Windows 10
- Windows 11
Help syntax
Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, and later syntax
HELP [command]
| command | Displays help information on that command. |
Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows XP Recovery Console syntax
help [command]
| command | Displays help information on that Recovery Console command. |
If command is not specified, all the commands supported by the Recovery Console are listed. The command parameter is used to see the help for a specific command.
Microsoft Windows 95, 98, Me syntax
HELP [/B] [/G] [/H] [/NOHI] [topic]
| /B | Allows use of a monochrome monitor with a color graphics card. |
| /G | Provides the fastest update of a CGA (Color Graphics Adapter) screen. |
| /H | Displays the maximum number of lines possible for your hardware. |
| /NOHI | Allows a monitor without high-intensity support. |
| [topic] | Specifies the help topic to view. |
Help examples
help
Displays the available commands that help can display. Typing help <command>, where <command> is the command you want help for, is the same as typing command /?.
help dir
Displays the help information for the dir command.