If the cell contents of a cell are only partially visible, a tooltip may be displayed if the mouse cursor rests above the partially displayed cell. The tooltip window then displays the complete cell contents by extending the cell and overlaying adjacent windows. Once the mouse cursor is moved away from the cell, the tooltip disappears.

Tooltips are enabled for cells in the item area using each column individually (see ColumnClass.ShowToolTips). Tooltips for column headers are enabled using the Headers.ShowToolTips property, for column footers using the Footers.ShowToolTips property, for row headers using the RowHeaders.ShowToolTips property.

It is possible to display tooltips even if the cells are already completely visible (see ToolTipClass.ShowAlways property).

An application can override the tooltip contents using the ShowToolTip event.