Microsoft Help Viewer
Applies to: 
Visual Studio 
Visual Studio for Mac
Note
This article applies to Visual Studio 2017. If you're looking for the latest Visual Studio documentation, see Visual Studio documentation. We recommend upgrading to the latest version of Visual Studio. Download it here
You can install and view content for various products and technologies on your local computer by using Microsoft Help Viewer. These products include Visual Studio, .NET, language reference, SQL Server, and Windows Development. Help Viewer enables you to:
Download sets of content, which are also referred to as books. This can be useful if you need to work "offline" and still have access to documentation.
Find topics by title by browsing and searching the table of contents.
Look up subjects in the index.
Find information by using full-text search.
View, bookmark, and print topics.
To install Help Viewer, see Microsoft Help Viewer installation. To start reading help topics in the Help Viewer rather than online, go to the Help menu in Visual Studio, and then choose Set Help Preference > Launch in Help Viewer.
Tip
Another way to download content locally so you can view it when you don't have an internet connection is to download a PDF version of it. Many documentation sets on docs.microsoft.com include a link at the bottom of the table of contents (TOC) to download a PDF file that contains all the articles for that TOC.
Help Viewer tour
You can find information in installed content by using the navigation tabs, view installed content in the topic tab or tabs, and manage content by using the Manage Content tab. You can also perform additional tasks by using the buttons on the toolbar and find additional information in the lower-right corner of the window.
Navigation tabs
| Tab | Description |
|---|---|
| Contents | Displays installed content as a hierarchy (table of contents). You can specify criteria to filter the titles that appear. |
| Index | Displays an alphabetical list of indexed terms. You can search the index, specify criteria to filter the entries, and require that index entries either contain or start with text that you specify. |
| Favorites | You can "favorite" topics by choosing the Add to Favorites button, and the topics appear in this tab. The History section displays a list of topics that you've viewed recently. |
| Search | Provides a text box where you can search for terms anywhere in the content, including code and topic titles. |
View topics
Each topic appears in its own tab, and you can open multiple topics at the same time.
Manage content
You can install, update, move, and delete content by using the Manage Content tab. At the top of the tab, you can use the Installation source control to specify whether to install books from a network location or from a disk or URI. The Local store path box shows where books are installed on the local computer, and you can move them to a different location by choosing the Move button.
The content list shows which books you can install or have already installed, whether an update is available, and how large each book is. You can install or remove one or more books by choosing the appropriate Add or Remove links and then choosing the Update button under the Pending changes pane. If updates are available for any books that you've already installed, you can refresh that content by choosing the Click here to download now link at the bottom of the window. In addition, all installed books are refreshed if updates are available when you install additional books.
Note
The functionality of the Manage Content tab may differ if the Help Viewer administrator deactivates these features, or if no internet access is available.
Toolbar buttons
The toolbar in the Help Viewer window contains the following buttons:
The Show Topic in Contents button shows the location of the topic in the Contents tab.
The Add to Favorites button adds the active topic to the Favorites tab.
The Find in Topic button highlights search text in the active topic.
The Print button prints or shows a preview of the active topic.
The Viewer Options button displays settings such as how large the text appears, how many search results to return, how many topics to show in history, and whether to check for updates online.
The Manage Content button makes the Manage Content tab active.
The small triangle on the right-hand side opens a list of tabs, including topic tabs and the Manage Content tab. You can choose a tab name to make it the active tab.