HLPs

HLPs refers to Windows Help files with the .hlp extension. These native Windows Help documents were widely used in the 1990s and early 2000s to provide on-screen help, manuals, and contextual guidance within applications. They rely on the WinHelp engine to display content.

Creation and structure: .hlp files were produced with tools such as Microsoft Help Workshop and compiled into a binary format. A typical .hlp file includes a table of contents, an index, one or more topic pages, and a keyword search feature. Navigation is facilitated by hyperlinks, keywords, and hotspots that connect topics to related material.

History and decline: WinHelp, the runtime component behind .hlp files, was gradually superseded by HTML Help (.chm) in the late 1990s. Chrome of the era moved toward HTML-based content and a different delivery engine. In modern Windows versions, WinHelp is not provided by default, and viewing older .hlp files often requires installing a legacy viewer such as winhlp32.exe or using third-party tools. Many developers migrated to CHM, PDFs, or web-based help systems.

Viewing and compatibility: On systems with the WinHelp viewer available, .hlp files can be opened directly to display topics, indexes, and search results. There are still third-party viewers and some conversion tools that can render or extract content on current platforms, including Linux and macOS, though support is limited. Converting .hlp content to CHM or HTML is a common preservation approach for legacy documentation.

Legacy and current status: Today, HLPs are largely seen as a legacy format associated with older software. They remain of interest for archival purposes and as a historical reference in the evolution of software help systems.