Tooltip

A small text bubble that appears when you hover over or focus on an element.

Also called: tooltip, tool tip, hint, popover, pop over, hover hint, hover text, help bubble, question mark, question mark icon, help icon, on hover

What it is for

It explains elements that have no text label, such as icons, or adds extra context without cluttering the main interface. On mobile it is usually triggered by a long press.

Where you see it

• Toolbars — tool names in editors when you hover over an icon
• Complex forms — an explanation of a term when you click a “?” icon
• Charts — exact values when you hover over a point or bar

What it is called in code

• title="…"
• role="tooltip"
• Tooltip / Popover

See also

• Text input — A field where a person types something in: letters, numbers, symbols.
• Button — An element you click or tap to make something happen: send a form, save your data, go to the next step.
• Modal window — A window that appears over the page. Until you close it, you can’t do anything else on the page.