diff --git a/docs/src/environments.md b/docs/src/environments.md
index fd6fff9ab4..f2e36883bf 100644
--- a/docs/src/environments.md
+++ b/docs/src/environments.md
@@ -192,6 +192,14 @@ force these packages to be retried, as `pkg> precompile` will always retry all p
 
 To disable the auto-precompilation, set `ENV["JULIA_PKG_PRECOMPILE_AUTO"]=0`.
 
+The indicators next to the package names displayed during precompilation
+indicate the status of that package's precompilation. 
+
+- `[◐, ◓, ◑, ◒]` Animated "clock" characters indicate that the package is currently being precompiled.
+- `✓` A green checkmark indicates that the package has been successfully precompiled (after which that package will disappear from the list). If the checkmark is yellow it means that the package is currently loaded so the session will need to be restarted to access the version that was just precompiled.
+- `?` A question mark character indicates that a `PrecompilableError` was thrown, indicating that precompilation was disallowed, i.e. `__precompile__(false)` in that package.
+- `✗` A cross indicates that the package failed to precompile.
+
 ### Precompiling new versions of loaded packages
 
 If a package that has been updated is already loaded in the session, the precompilation process will go ahead and precompile