Welcome to the Haiku User Guide

Below, you'll find the documentation of the most important aspects of Haiku. Naturally, completing and extending the documentation is a continuing process (see the online version for updated pages and translations). If you find errors, would like to suggest topics or maybe even contribute yourself, please get in touch on the documentation mailing list. If you're interested in helping with translations, you'll find information on that at the i18n user guide wiki.

Boot Loader	Set safe boot options to solve configuration problems.
Filesystem layout The system folder The common folder The home folder	Understand the filesystem hierarchy and get familiar with important file locations and folders.
Haiku's GUI Easy moving and resizing Stack & Tile Open and save panels - Keyboard shortcuts - Favorites and recent folders Replicants	Learn about the basic elements of the graphical user interface.
Workspaces The Workspaces Applet Switching workspaces Moving windows between workspaces Special functionality	Use virtual desktops for an uncluttered work environment.
Twitcher	Switch between running applications.
Team Monitor	Kill unresponsive applications or system components.
Tracker Mounting volumes Navigating Appearance Tracker preferences Working with files Transaction status Tracker Add-Ons	Learn all about navigating, working with files and folders and how to configure Haiku's file manager.
Shortcuts and key combinations General shortcuts Shortcuts for Tracker navigation Shortcuts in Terminal Other key combinations	The most common shortcuts to speed up your workflow.
Deskbar The Deskbar Menu The Tray The list of running programs	Use and configure Haiku's version of the "Start" menu and taskbar.
Filetypes The File Type The Preferred Application The Icon Special settings for applications Global settings with the Filetypes Preferences	Set default applications, change file types and create your own.
Attributes Attributes in Tracker Attributes in Terminal	One of Haiku's main features lets you manage and add any kind of data to any file.
Index	Use indexing to be able to search for attributes.
Queries The Find window Basic queries - "by Name" Advanced queries - "by Attribute" Even more advanced queries - "by Formula" The result window Query Templates	Use Haiku's lightning fast queries to quickly find what you're looking for.
Workshop: Filetypes, Attributes, Index and Queries	Learn to use some of Haiku's key features by organizing your DVDs.
Workshop: Managing Email	Learn to use Haiku's mail system with custom statuses and queries.
Workshop: Wireless networking	Set up your open or encrypted wireless network.
Applications Installing applications Uninstalling applications Haiku's applications Haiku's commandline applications Bundled applications	Learn how to un/install applications in general and how work with the ones that come with Haiku.
Desktop Applets	Simple tools to install on your Desktop and Deskbar.
Preferences	Configuring and setting up your system.
Bash and Scripting	Learn of some interesting scripts used by the system and about online resources for working in the shell and scripting.