Context sensitive help with F1 in visual studio

Question

Hello,

i am sorry. I am quite shure that this is a often asked question, but i didn't find any relevant document for visual studio 2022.

When I press F1 there is nothing happening. First I had also the problem, that the Help Viewer wasn't installed. This i could fix. Nevertheless the context sensitive help for a Class or keyword doesn't work.

I have Visual Studio Community 2022 V17.5.1

Answer 1

Hello @Javango ,

Thank you for taking time to post this issue in Microsoft Q&A forum.

If you didn’t install the Help Viewer, when you press F1, a web page should be opened. If you installed the Help Viewer, then Help Viewer should be opened.

Both of above conditions should happen when you focus the cursor on Class… and press F1.

Please first try the suggestion that shared by Viorel. Try to directly click Help > View Help to see if Help Viewer can be correctly opened.

If Help Viewer can be opened when you click Help > View Help, then please go to Tools > Options… > Environment > Keyboard > Press shortcut keys > press F1 and confirm that in "Shortcut currently used by:" box, Help.F1Help(F1 (Global)) has been assigned.

• If the command wasn’t assigned, please try to assign it by searching Help.F1Help command in "Show commands containing:" box, select it and press F1 in "Press shortcut keys:" box > click Assign > click OK.
• If the command has been assigned, please try following:
• 1. Assign another shortcut key to Help.F1Help command just for testing. For example, assign Alt + Z. If it works for newly assigned shortcut key, then the issue may be related to the conflicts about F1 on your side.
• 2. Please click Win + Ctrl + O to turn on on-screen keyboard, choose one keyword in your project in VS, for example class, make sure that the cursor focusses on class in VS. Use on-screen keyboard, click Fn then click F1, check if the Help Viewer opens.

If Help Viewer cannot be opened when you click Help > View Help, then please try following:

1. Reset Visual Studio settings by opening Developer Command Prompt for Visual Studio 2022 Community > typing devenv /ResetSettings.
2. Repair Visual Studio from VS Installer > More > Repair.
3. Reinstall Help Viewer from VS Installer > Modify > Individual components > Code tools > Help Viewer(uncheck > Modify > check it again > Modify).

Besides, please also try these methods to troubleshoot the issue:

1. Clean web browser’s cache.
2. Disable any extension/antivirus temporarily and test again.

If it is acceptable, you can assign a new shortcut key to Help.F1Help command as a workaround currently.

Please feel free to let us know if it works.

Sincerely,

Tianyu

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