diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index bb766c7c9..31981217e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -160,20 +160,35 @@ GOBIN=$$(pwd)/.go/bin
 PROTOC_GEN_GO_VERSION := $(shell go list -m -f '{{.Version}}' google.golang.org/protobuf)
 GOIMPORTS_VERSION := $(shell go list -m -f '{{.Version}}' golang.org/x/tools)
 
+# ==============================================================================
+# ================================ COMMANDS ====================================
+# ==============================================================================
+
+# ==================================
+# Help
+# ==================================
+# To document a new target, add "## <description>" at the end of the target line.
+# Example: new-target: ## Description of the new target
+
+.PHONY: help
+help: ## Display this help message
+	@awk 'BEGIN {FS = ":.*##"; printf "\nUsage:\n  make \033[36m<target>\033[0m\n\nTargets:\n"} /^[a-zA-Z0-9_%-]+:.*?##/ { printf "  \033[36m%-20s\033[0m %s\n", $$1, $$2 }' $(MAKEFILE_LIST)
+
+
 # If you want to build all binaries, see the 'all-build' rule.
 # If you want to build all containers, see the 'all-containers' rule.
-all:
+all: ## Build the default velero binary
 	@$(MAKE) build
 
-build-%:
+build-%: ## Build specific binary
 	@$(MAKE) --no-print-directory ARCH=$* build
 
-all-build: $(addprefix build-, $(CLI_PLATFORMS))
+all-build: $(addprefix build-, $(CLI_PLATFORMS)) ## Build for all CLI platforms
 
-all-containers:
+all-containers: ## Build all containers
 	@$(MAKE) --no-print-directory container
 
-local: build-dirs
+local: build-dirs ## Build locally
 # Add DEBUG=1 to enable debug locally
 	GOOS=$(GOOS) \
 	GOARCH=$(GOARCH) \
@@ -187,7 +202,7 @@ local: build-dirs
 	OUTPUT_DIR=$$(pwd)/_output/bin/$(GOOS)/$(GOARCH) \
 	./hack/build.sh
 
-build: _output/bin/$(GOOS)/$(GOARCH)/$(BIN)
+build: _output/bin/$(GOOS)/$(GOARCH)/$(BIN) ## Build the velero binary (use build-<os>-<arch> for specific targets)
 
 _output/bin/$(GOOS)/$(GOARCH)/$(BIN): build-dirs
 	@echo "building: $@"
@@ -207,7 +222,7 @@ _output/bin/$(GOOS)/$(GOARCH)/$(BIN): build-dirs
 TTY := $(shell tty -s && echo "-t")
 
 # Example: make shell CMD="date > datefile"
-shell: build-dirs build-env
+shell: build-dirs build-env ## Run a shell in the build container
 	@# bind-mount the Velero root dir in at /github.com/vmware-tanzu/velero
 	@# because the Kubernetes code-generator tools require the project to
 	@# exist in a directory hierarchy ending like this (but *NOT* necessarily
@@ -230,7 +245,7 @@ shell: build-dirs build-env
 		$(BUILDER_IMAGE) \
 		/bin/sh $(CMD)
 
-container:
+container: ## Build the docker container (use container-<os>-<arch> for specific targets)
 ifneq ($(CONTAINER_TOOL),docker)
 	$(error $(DOCKER_ONLY_ERROR))
 endif
@@ -312,7 +327,7 @@ endif
 
 	@echo "built container: $(IMAGE):$(VERSION)-windows-$(BUILDX_OSVERSION)-$(BUILDX_ARCH)"
 
-push-manifest:
+push-manifest: ## Push multi-arch manifest
 ifneq ($(CONTAINER_TOOL),docker)
 	$(error $(DOCKER_ONLY_ERROR))
 endif
@@ -335,36 +350,36 @@ endif
 	@docker manifest inspect --insecure=$(INSECURE_REGISTRY) $(IMAGE_TAG)
 
 SKIP_TESTS ?=
-test: build-dirs
+test: build-dirs ## Run unit tests
 ifneq ($(SKIP_TESTS), 1)
 	@$(MAKE) shell CMD="-c 'hack/test.sh $(WHAT)'"
 endif
 
-test-local: build-dirs
+test-local: build-dirs ## Run unit tests locally
 ifneq ($(SKIP_TESTS), 1)
 	hack/test.sh $(WHAT)
 endif
 
-verify:
+verify: ## Run all verify scripts
 ifneq ($(SKIP_TESTS), 1)
 	@$(MAKE) shell CMD="-c 'hack/verify-all.sh'"
 endif
 
-lint:
+lint: ## Run linter
 ifneq ($(SKIP_TESTS), 1)
 	@$(MAKE) shell CMD="-c 'hack/lint.sh'"
 endif
 
-local-lint:
+local-lint: ## Run linter locally
 ifneq ($(SKIP_TESTS), 1)
 	@hack/lint.sh
 endif
 
-update:
+update: ## Run all update scripts
 	@$(MAKE) shell CMD="-c 'hack/update-all.sh'"
 
 # update-crd is for development purpose only, it is faster than update, so is a shortcut when you want to generate CRD changes only
-update-crd:
+update-crd: ## Update generated CRD code
 	@$(MAKE) shell CMD="-c 'hack/update-3generated-crd-code.sh'"	
 
 build-dirs:
@@ -392,7 +407,7 @@ else
 	$(CONTAINER_TOOL) pull -q $(BUILDER_IMAGE) || $(MAKE) build-image
 endif
 
-build-image:
+build-image: ## Build the builder image
 	@# When we build a new image we just untag the old one.
 	@# This makes sure we don't leave the orphaned image behind.
 	$(eval old_id=$(shell $(CONTAINER_TOOL) image inspect  --format '{{ .ID }}' ${BUILDER_IMAGE} 2>/dev/null))
@@ -409,7 +424,7 @@ endif
 		$(CONTAINER_TOOL) rmi -f $$id || true; \
 	fi
 
-push-build-image:
+push-build-image: ## Push the builder image
 ifneq ($(CONTAINER_TOOL),docker)
 	$(error $(DOCKER_ONLY_ERROR))
 endif
@@ -423,10 +438,10 @@ else
 	docker push $(BUILDER_IMAGE)
 endif
 
-build-image-hugo:
+build-image-hugo: ## Build the hugo image for docs
 	cd site && $(CONTAINER_TOOL) build --pull -t $(HUGO_IMAGE) .
 
-clean:
+clean: ## Clean up build artifacts and modcache
 # if we have a cached image then use it to run go clean --modcache
 # this test checks if we there is an image id in the BUILDER_IMAGE_CACHED variable.
 ifneq ($(strip $(BUILDER_IMAGE_CACHED)),)
@@ -438,21 +453,21 @@ endif
 
 
 .PHONY: modules
-modules:
+modules: ## Tidy go modules
 	go mod tidy
 
 
 .PHONY: verify-modules
-verify-modules: modules
+verify-modules: modules ## Verify go modules are up to date
 	@if !(git diff --quiet HEAD -- go.sum go.mod); then \
 		echo "go module files are out of date, please commit the changes to go.mod and go.sum"; exit 1; \
 	fi
 
 
-ci: verify-modules verify all test
+ci: verify-modules verify all test ## Run CI checks
 
 
-changelog:
+changelog: ## Generate changelog
 	hack/release-tools/changelog.sh
 
 # release builds a GitHub release using goreleaser within the build container.
@@ -470,7 +485,7 @@ changelog:
 #		RELEASE_NOTES_FILE=changelogs/CHANGELOG-1.2.md \
 #		PUBLISH=true \
 #		make release
-release:
+release: ## Build a GitHub release using goreleaser
 	$(MAKE) shell CMD="-c '\
 		GITHUB_TOKEN=$(GITHUB_TOKEN) \
 		RELEASE_NOTES_FILE=$(RELEASE_NOTES_FILE) \
@@ -478,7 +493,7 @@ release:
 		REGISTRY=$(REGISTRY) \
 		./hack/release-tools/goreleaser.sh'"
 
-serve-docs: build-image-hugo
+serve-docs: build-image-hugo ## Serve the documentation site locally
 	$(CONTAINER_TOOL) run \
 	--rm \
 	-v "$$(pwd)/site:/project" \
@@ -487,18 +502,18 @@ serve-docs: build-image-hugo
 	server --bind=0.0.0.0 --enableGitInfo=false
 # gen-docs generates a new versioned docs directory under site/content/docs.
 # Please read the documentation in the script for instructions on how to use it.
-gen-docs:
+gen-docs: ## Generate a new versioned docs directory
 	@hack/release-tools/gen-docs.sh
 
 .PHONY: test-e2e
-test-e2e: local
+test-e2e: local ## Run end-to-end tests
 	$(MAKE) -e VERSION=$(VERSION) -C test/ run-e2e
 
 .PHONY: test-perf
-test-perf: local
+test-perf: local ## Run performance tests
 	$(MAKE) -e VERSION=$(VERSION) -C test/ run-perf
 
-go-generate:
+go-generate: ## Run go generate
 	go generate ./pkg/...
 
 # requires an authenticated gh cli
@@ -510,11 +525,11 @@ go-generate:
 new-changelog: GH_LOGIN ?= $(shell gh pr view --json author --jq .author.login 2> /dev/null)
 new-changelog: GH_PR_NUMBER ?= $(shell gh pr view --json number --jq .number 2> /dev/null)
 new-changelog: CHANGELOG_BODY ?= '$(shell gh pr view --json title --jq .title)'
-new-changelog:
+new-changelog: ## Create a new changelog file for a PR
 	@if [ "$(GH_LOGIN)" = "" ]; then \
 		echo "branch does not have PR or cli not logged in, try 'gh auth login' or 'gh pr create'"; \
 		exit 1; \
 	fi
 	@mkdir -p ./changelogs/unreleased/ && \
 	echo $(CHANGELOG_BODY) > ./changelogs/unreleased/$(GH_PR_NUMBER)-$(GH_LOGIN) && \
-	echo \"$(CHANGELOG_BODY)\" added to "./changelogs/unreleased/$(GH_PR_NUMBER)-$(GH_LOGIN)"
\ No newline at end of file
+	echo \"$(CHANGELOG_BODY)\" added to "./changelogs/unreleased/$(GH_PR_NUMBER)-$(GH_LOGIN)"