Help System

Blender has a range of built-in and web-based help options.

Tooltips

../_images/getting-started_help_tooltip.png — Tooltip of the Renderer selector in the Info Editor.

When hovering the mouse cursor over a button or setting, after a few instants a tooltip appears.

Elements

The context-sensitive Tooltip might contain some of these elements:

Short Description: Related details depending on the control.
Shortcut: A keyboard or mouse shortcut associated to the tool.
Value: The value of the property.
Library: Source file of the active object. See also Linked Libraries.
Disabled (red): The reason why the value is not editable.
Python: When Python Tooltips are enabled, a Python expression is displayed for scripting (usually an operator or property).

Context-Sensitive Manual Access

Reference

Mode: All modes
Menu: Context menu ‣ Online Manual
Shortcut: F1

You may want to access help for a tool or area from within Blender.

Use the key-shortcut, or context menu to visit pages from this reference manual within Blender. This opens a web page relating to the button under the cursor, supporting both tool and value buttons.

Note

We do not currently have 100% coverage, you may see an alert in the info header if some tools do not have a link to the manual.

Other times buttons may link to more general sections of the documentation.

Help Menu

Web Links

The first options of this menu provide direct links to Blender-related websites: The same links can also be found in the Splash Screen.

Manual: This is a link to the Official Blender Manual (which you are now reading).
Tutorials: Multiple tutorials to help you learn to use Blender.
Support: Links to various sites, providing both community and professional support.

User Communities: Lists of many different community sites and support venues.
Developer Community: Blender’s developer forum.

Python API Reference: Python application programming interface (API)

Report a Bug: The Blender Bug Tracker (registration needed).

Save System Info

This extracts system information which can be useful to include in bug reports, inspecting the configuration or diagnosing problems.

You will be prompted to save a text file system-info.txt.

The text file contains sections:

Blender

This section shows you the Blender version, details about the build configuration, and the path in which Blender is running.

Python

The Python version you are using, showing the paths of the Python programming language.

Directories

Paths used for scripts, data files, presets and temporary files.

Those directories are configured using the Preferences Editor.

OpenGL

This section shows the OpenGL version, the name of the manufacturer, and lists the capabilities of your hardware and driver.

Enabled Add-Ons:

Lists add-ons currently in use.