MacinTopics

Synopsis:

In Mac OS X, the Help viewer windows always float on top of all other windows. Learn how to change this so that Help windows behave just like any other window with this quick tip.

Let's Begin:

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always found it annoying that the Help windows in Mac OS X applications always stay on top of all other open windows. Many times I want it out of the way momentarily while I go back to do something in the application, but I’m not ready to close the window since I still want to refer to it. What I want is for the Help window to behave just like a regular window so I can bring other windows on top of it when I want. Fortunately, there’s an easy way to change the behavior of the Help window so that it turns into a regular window by using a simple Terminal command. (See Using the Terminal Application in Mac OS X if you’re not familiar with using the Terminal application.)

To change the Help window to work like a regular window, type this command in the Terminal:

defaults write com.apple.helpviewer DevMode -bool true

If at some point in the future you want to make the Help window always stay on top again, then type this command to reset it:

defaults delete com.apple.helpviewer DevMode

That’s all there is to it. Now the Help window is banished from always hovering on top your other windows.