diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/manage_processor_form/processors/common_fields/processor_type_field.tsx b/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/manage_processor_form/processors/common_fields/processor_type_field.tsx
index e4ad90f61af0a..3264923442886 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/manage_processor_form/processors/common_fields/processor_type_field.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/manage_processor_form/processors/common_fields/processor_type_field.tsx
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
  */
 import { EuiComboBox, EuiComboBoxOptionOption, EuiFormRow } from '@elastic/eui';
 import { i18n } from '@kbn/i18n';
-import React, { FunctionComponent } from 'react';
+import React, { FunctionComponent, ReactNode } from 'react';
 import { flow } from 'fp-ts/lib/function';
 import { map } from 'fp-ts/lib/Array';
 
@@ -68,13 +68,18 @@ export const ProcessorTypeField: FunctionComponent<Props> = ({ initialType }) =>
     <UseField<string> config={typeConfig} defaultValue={initialType} path="type">
       {(typeField) => {
         let selectedOptions: ProcessorTypeAndLabel[];
+        let description: string | ReactNode = '';
+
         if (typeField.value?.length) {
           const type = typeField.value;
-          const descriptor = getProcessorDescriptor(type);
-          selectedOptions = descriptor
-            ? [{ label: descriptor.label, value: type }]
-            : // If there is no label for this processor type, just use the type as the label
-              [{ label: type, value: type }];
+          const processorDescriptor = getProcessorDescriptor(type);
+          if (processorDescriptor) {
+            description = processorDescriptor.description || '';
+            selectedOptions = [{ label: processorDescriptor.label, value: type }];
+          } else {
+            // If there is no label for this processor type, just use the type as the label
+            selectedOptions = [{ label: type, value: type }];
+          }
         } else {
           selectedOptions = [];
         }
@@ -102,9 +107,7 @@ export const ProcessorTypeField: FunctionComponent<Props> = ({ initialType }) =>
           <EuiFormRow
             label={typeField.label}
             labelAppend={typeField.labelAppend}
-            helpText={
-              typeof typeField.helpText === 'function' ? typeField.helpText() : typeField.helpText
-            }
+            helpText={typeof description === 'function' ? description() : description}
             error={error}
             isInvalid={isInvalid}
             fullWidth
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/manage_processor_form/processors/common_fields/target_field.tsx b/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/manage_processor_form/processors/common_fields/target_field.tsx
index 9bf44425a7c5d..69ce01777b616 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/manage_processor_form/processors/common_fields/target_field.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/manage_processor_form/processors/common_fields/target_field.tsx
@@ -21,8 +21,7 @@ const fieldsConfig: FieldsConfig = {
     helpText: i18n.translate(
       'xpack.ingestPipelines.pipelineEditor.commonFields.targetFieldHelpText',
       {
-        defaultMessage:
-          'The field to assign the joined value to. If empty, the field is updated in-place.',
+        defaultMessage: 'Output field. If empty, the input field is updated in place.',
       }
     ),
   },
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/manage_processor_form/processors/gsub.tsx b/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/manage_processor_form/processors/gsub.tsx
index a0bda245d667b..d9108d9b86445 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/manage_processor_form/processors/gsub.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/manage_processor_form/processors/gsub.tsx
@@ -87,17 +87,7 @@ export const Gsub: FunctionComponent = () => {
 
       <UseField config={fieldsConfig.replacement} component={Field} path="fields.replacement" />
 
-      <TargetField
-        helpText={
-          <FormattedMessage
-            id="xpack.ingestPipelines.pipelineEditor.gsubForm.targetFieldHelpText"
-            defaultMessage="Field used to contain updated text. Defaults to {field}."
-            values={{
-              field: <EuiCode>{'field'}</EuiCode>,
-            }}
-          />
-        }
-      />
+      <TargetField />
 
       <IgnoreMissingField />
     </>
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/manage_processor_form/processors/html_strip.tsx b/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/manage_processor_form/processors/html_strip.tsx
index fb1a2d97672b0..1105a99b0159e 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/manage_processor_form/processors/html_strip.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/manage_processor_form/processors/html_strip.tsx
@@ -23,15 +23,7 @@ export const HtmlStrip: FunctionComponent = () => {
         )}
       />
 
-      <TargetField
-        helpText={
-          <FormattedMessage
-            id="xpack.ingestPipelines.pipelineEditor.htmlStripForm.targetFieldHelpText"
-            defaultMessage="Field used to contain stripped text. Defaults to {field}."
-            values={{ field: <EuiCode>{'field'}</EuiCode> }}
-          />
-        }
-      />
+      <TargetField />
 
       <IgnoreMissingField />
     </>
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/manage_processor_form/processors/join.tsx b/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/manage_processor_form/processors/join.tsx
index c35a5b463f573..0110a8a2e8f07 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/manage_processor_form/processors/join.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/manage_processor_form/processors/join.tsx
@@ -55,17 +55,7 @@ export const Join: FunctionComponent = () => {
 
       <UseField config={fieldsConfig.separator} component={Field} path="fields.separator" />
 
-      <TargetField
-        helpText={
-          <FormattedMessage
-            id="xpack.ingestPipelines.pipelineEditor.joinForm.targetFieldHelpText"
-            defaultMessage="Field used to contain the joined value. Defaults to {field}."
-            values={{
-              field: <EuiCode>{'field'}</EuiCode>,
-            }}
-          />
-        }
-      />
+      <TargetField />
     </>
   );
 };
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/manage_processor_form/processors/json.tsx b/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/manage_processor_form/processors/json.tsx
index 5c4c53b65b6dc..eab5a611c97af 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/manage_processor_form/processors/json.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/manage_processor_form/processors/json.tsx
@@ -65,12 +65,7 @@ export const Json: FunctionComponent = () => {
         )}
       />
 
-      <TargetField
-        helpText={i18n.translate(
-          'xpack.ingestPipelines.pipelineEditor.jsonForm.targetFieldHelpText',
-          { defaultMessage: 'Field used to contain the JSON object.' }
-        )}
-      />
+      <TargetField />
 
       <UseField
         config={fieldsConfig.add_to_root}
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/shared/map_processor_type_to_form.tsx b/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/shared/map_processor_type_to_form.tsx
index 854c6632ab94a..1493d72d03185 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/shared/map_processor_type_to_form.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/ingest_pipelines/public/application/components/pipeline_processors_editor/components/shared/map_processor_type_to_form.tsx
@@ -5,7 +5,9 @@
  */
 
 import { i18n } from '@kbn/i18n';
-import { FunctionComponent } from 'react';
+import React, { FunctionComponent, ReactNode } from 'react';
+import { FormattedMessage } from '@kbn/i18n/react';
+import { EuiCode, EuiLink } from '@elastic/eui';
 
 import {
   Append,
@@ -40,6 +42,7 @@ interface FieldDescriptor {
    * A sentence case label that can be displayed to users
    */
   label: string;
+  description?: string | ReactNode;
 }
 
 type MapProcessorTypeToDescriptor = Record<string, FieldDescriptor>;
@@ -121,6 +124,19 @@ export const mapProcessorTypeToDescriptor: MapProcessorTypeToDescriptor = {
     label: i18n.translate('xpack.ingestPipelines.processors.label.enrich', {
       defaultMessage: 'Enrich',
     }),
+    description: () => (
+      <FormattedMessage
+        id="xpack.ingestPipelines.processors.description.enrich"
+        defaultMessage="Adds enrich data to incoming documents based on an {enrichPolicyLink}."
+        values={{
+          enrichPolicyLink: (
+            <EuiLink external target="_blank" href={esDocUrl + '/ingest-enriching-data.html'}>
+              {'enrich policy'}
+            </EuiLink>
+          ),
+        }}
+      />
+    ),
   },
   fail: {
     FieldsComponent: Fail,
@@ -128,6 +144,10 @@ export const mapProcessorTypeToDescriptor: MapProcessorTypeToDescriptor = {
     label: i18n.translate('xpack.ingestPipelines.processors.label.fail', {
       defaultMessage: 'Fail',
     }),
+    description: i18n.translate('xpack.ingestPipelines.processors.description.fail', {
+      defaultMessage:
+        'Returns a custom error message on failure. Often used to notify requesters of required conditions.',
+    }),
   },
   foreach: {
     FieldsComponent: Foreach,
@@ -135,6 +155,9 @@ export const mapProcessorTypeToDescriptor: MapProcessorTypeToDescriptor = {
     label: i18n.translate('xpack.ingestPipelines.processors.label.foreach', {
       defaultMessage: 'Foreach',
     }),
+    description: i18n.translate('xpack.ingestPipelines.processors.description.foreach', {
+      defaultMessage: 'Applies an ingest processor to each value in an array.',
+    }),
   },
   geoip: {
     FieldsComponent: GeoIP,
@@ -142,6 +165,10 @@ export const mapProcessorTypeToDescriptor: MapProcessorTypeToDescriptor = {
     label: i18n.translate('xpack.ingestPipelines.processors.label.geoip', {
       defaultMessage: 'GeoIP',
     }),
+    description: i18n.translate('xpack.ingestPipelines.processors.description.geoip', {
+      defaultMessage:
+        'Adds geo data based on an IP address. Uses geo data from a Maxmind database file.',
+    }),
   },
   grok: {
     FieldsComponent: Grok,
@@ -149,6 +176,19 @@ export const mapProcessorTypeToDescriptor: MapProcessorTypeToDescriptor = {
     label: i18n.translate('xpack.ingestPipelines.processors.label.grok', {
       defaultMessage: 'Grok',
     }),
+    description: () => (
+      <FormattedMessage
+        id="xpack.ingestPipelines.processors.description.grok"
+        defaultMessage="Uses {grokLink} expressions to extract matches from a field.."
+        values={{
+          grokLink: (
+            <EuiLink external target="_blank" href={esDocUrl + '/grok-processor.html'}>
+              {'grok'}
+            </EuiLink>
+          ),
+        }}
+      />
+    ),
   },
   gsub: {
     FieldsComponent: Gsub,
@@ -156,6 +196,9 @@ export const mapProcessorTypeToDescriptor: MapProcessorTypeToDescriptor = {
     label: i18n.translate('xpack.ingestPipelines.processors.label.gsub', {
       defaultMessage: 'Gsub',
     }),
+    description: i18n.translate('xpack.ingestPipelines.processors.description.gsub', {
+      defaultMessage: 'Uses a regular expression to replace field substrings.',
+    }),
   },
   html_strip: {
     FieldsComponent: HtmlStrip,
@@ -163,6 +206,9 @@ export const mapProcessorTypeToDescriptor: MapProcessorTypeToDescriptor = {
     label: i18n.translate('xpack.ingestPipelines.processors.label.htmlStrip', {
       defaultMessage: 'HTML strip',
     }),
+    description: i18n.translate('xpack.ingestPipelines.processors.description.htmlStrip', {
+      defaultMessage: 'Removes HTML tags from a field.',
+    }),
   },
   inference: {
     FieldsComponent: Inference,
@@ -170,6 +216,10 @@ export const mapProcessorTypeToDescriptor: MapProcessorTypeToDescriptor = {
     label: i18n.translate('xpack.ingestPipelines.processors.label.inference', {
       defaultMessage: 'Inference',
     }),
+    description: i18n.translate('xpack.ingestPipelines.processors.description.inference', {
+      defaultMessage:
+        'Uses a pre-trained data frame analytics model to infer against incoming data.',
+    }),
   },
   join: {
     FieldsComponent: Join,
@@ -177,6 +227,10 @@ export const mapProcessorTypeToDescriptor: MapProcessorTypeToDescriptor = {
     label: i18n.translate('xpack.ingestPipelines.processors.label.join', {
       defaultMessage: 'Join',
     }),
+    description: i18n.translate('xpack.ingestPipelines.processors.description.join', {
+      defaultMessage:
+        'Joins array elements into a string. Inserts a separator between each element.',
+    }),
   },
   json: {
     FieldsComponent: Json,
@@ -184,6 +238,9 @@ export const mapProcessorTypeToDescriptor: MapProcessorTypeToDescriptor = {
     label: i18n.translate('xpack.ingestPipelines.processors.label.json', {
       defaultMessage: 'JSON',
     }),
+    description: i18n.translate('xpack.ingestPipelines.processors.description.json', {
+      defaultMessage: 'Creates a JSON object from a compatible string.',
+    }),
   },
   kv: {
     FieldsComponent: undefined, // TODO: Implement