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What is the name of the element that pops up when you hold your mouse/pointer over a folder in Windows 10? I've included a snippet below of the informational pop-up I'm referring to.

I tried searching for this everywhere because I was wanting to decrease the amount of time required for that specific window to pop up, if at all possible. Unfortunately the search was fruitless since I can't seem to find anything on what this pop-up is specifically called - or if it's even possible to reduce the amount of time required for it to pop up.

Snippet of example.

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    In general, these are called tooltips. (Comment because it isn't the name of this element, but the general sort of element.)
    – wizzwizz4
    Sep 14, 2020 at 17:10
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    I second this. Tooltip is the generic term for these.
    – Tomachi
    Sep 14, 2020 at 17:58
  • Tooltip would have been my first guess, and my preferred name for these as well, but I realized that Microsoft may have gone by a different name for them - as I wasn't finding any results searching to modify tooltip delay.
    – Evan
    Sep 14, 2020 at 22:12
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    @Evan: Back in the WinForms days, Microsoft also called it a tooltip.
    – Flater
    Sep 15, 2020 at 8:53

2 Answers 2

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This is called the "Pop-up Description", and it can be disabled and enabled (see link).

The time it takes for it to pop up is called the "Mouse Hover Time". It is specified in the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse, item named MouseHoverTime, specifying the time to pop up in milliseconds (400 milliseconds is the default).

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  • It doesn't appear to work on my work laptop, but there are a multitude of potential reasons why. I'll try to replicate this on my personal computer and then update accordingly. Stellar job on finding its registry entry so quickly!
    – Evan
    Sep 13, 2020 at 20:31
  • It might need a reboot.
    – harrymc
    Sep 13, 2020 at 20:37
  • I tested after a reboot on the work laptop and it seemed to pop up at the same time as before. (400ms -> 100ms -> 50ms); I'll re-test on a device that's not nearly as locked down, as well as expand my research now that I know the registry item's name.
    – Evan
    Sep 13, 2020 at 20:46
  • Since it's a per-user setting, I guess it requires a logoff-logon, and not a full reboot.
    – Jonathan
    Sep 14, 2020 at 11:00
  • Marking this as the answer. It did work for the most part on my home computer, as opposed to my work computer. Although it didn't necessarily reduce the time from my mouse stopping over the item to the pop-up appearing, it DID reduce the time that it takes for the pop-up to fade in. (400 -> 100) Edit: A reboot was not required for it to take effect for me, apparently. Still rebooted regardless. No change from the reboot.
    – Evan
    Sep 14, 2020 at 22:18
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AFAIK, there is no way to control the info pop-up delay without rewriting Windows. The Registry switch for the feature is at Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced, ShowInfoTip.

There might be some features in Windows Ease of Access settings that affect the delay of the info pop-up, but they would likely increase it.

There is a value ExtendedUIHoverTime, but that seems to be only for the delay for the preview of an item in the Taskbar.

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    It looks like ShowInfoTip is referring to the Folder Options setting under the 'View' tab: "Show pop-up description for folder and desktop items" Good find, nonetheless, and thank you for looking!
    – Evan
    Sep 13, 2020 at 20:36

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