# Context menus

Source: https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/context-menus
Skill: hig-components-menus
Snapshot: 2025-02-02

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> **Source**: Apple Inc. Canonical content at https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/context-menus.
> This file is a structured index of that content, snapshot 2025-02-02.
> Apple HIG text and imagery are © Apple Inc.; this repository provides organization and cross-referencing for AI agent consumption only.

# Context menus

  * The system-defined touch or pinch and hold gesture in visionOS, iOS, and iPadOS

  * Pressing the Control key while clicking a pointing device in macOS and iPadOS

  * Using a secondary click on a Magic Trackpad in macOS or iPadOS

## Best practices

**Prioritize relevancy when choosing items to include in a context menu.**

**Aim for a small number of menu items.**

**Support context menus consistently throughout your app.**

**Always make context menu items available in the main interface, too.**

**If you need to use submenus to manage a menu’s complexity, keep them to one level.**

**Hide unavailable menu items, don’t dim them.**

**Aim to place the most frequently used menu items where people are likely to encounter them first.**

**Show keyboard shortcuts in your app’s main menus, not in context menus.**

**Follow best practices for using separators.**

**In iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS, warn people about context menu items that can destroy data.**

## Content

**Include a title in a context menu only if doing so clarifies the menu’s effect.**

**Represent menu item actions with familiar icons.**

## Platform considerations

### iOS, iPadOS

**Provide either a context menu or an edit menu for an item, but not both.**

**In iPadOS, consider using a context menu to let people create a new object in your app.**

**Prefer a graphical preview that clarifies the target of a context menu’s commands.**

**Ensure that your preview looks good as it animates.**

### visionOS

**Consider using a context menu instead of a panel or inspector window to present frequently used functionality.**

**In general, avoid letting a context menu’s height exceed the height of the window.**

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For the complete guidance, including worked examples and illustrations, see the canonical page: https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/context-menus