Get help

To...	Do this
Download an offline version of the Maya Help.	Visit www.autodesk.com/maya-helpdownload-enu to download the Maya help. Unzip it to a local directory on your system, and set the help preference accordingly. See Set Help preferences to use local version of Maya help below.
Set Help preferences to use local version of Maya help.	In Maya, open the Help preferences window by selecting Window > Settings/Preferences > Preferences. The Preferences window appears. Under Categories, click Help. In the Help Location section, select Custom, and then click the icon to browse to the location of your local copy of the Maya Help. Select the index.html file. Click Save and exit the Preferences window. You can now press F1 to access the local Maya help.
Show the online help in a browser.	Select Help > Maya Help, or press F1.
Show the help for a window.	Select an item in the window’s Help menu.
Find a tool or menu item in the interface.	Select Help > Find Menu. The name of the menu item and the menu and menu set it is in is returned.
Get a description of/instructions for the action under the cursor.	Look in the help line, or turn on Display ToolClips in the Help preferences.