diff --git a/mne/channels/channels.py b/mne/channels/channels.py
index 8fbff33c13e..ed6dd8508cc 100644
--- a/mne/channels/channels.py
+++ b/mne/channels/channels.py
@@ -661,17 +661,21 @@ def _pick_projs(self):
         return self
 
     def add_channels(self, add_list, force_update_info=False):
-        """Append new channels to the instance.
+        """Append new channels from other MNE objects to the instance.
 
         Parameters
         ----------
         add_list : list
-            A list of objects to append to self. Must contain all the same
-            type as the current object.
+            A list of MNE objects to append to the current instance.
+            The channels contained in the other instances are appended to the
+            channels of the current instance. Therefore, all other instances
+            must be of the same type as the current object.
+            See notes on how to add data coming from an array.
         force_update_info : bool
             If True, force the info for objects to be appended to match the
-            values in ``self``. This should generally only be used when adding
-            stim channels for which important metadata won't be overwritten.
+            values of the current instance. This should generally only be
+            used when adding stim channels for which important metadata won't
+            be overwritten.
 
             .. versionadded:: 0.12
 
@@ -688,6 +692,12 @@ def add_channels(self, add_list, force_update_info=False):
         -----
         If ``self`` is a Raw instance that has been preloaded into a
         :obj:`numpy.memmap` instance, the memmap will be resized.
+
+        This function expects an MNE object to be appended (e.g. :class:`~mne.io.Raw`,
+        :class:`~mne.Epochs`, :class:`~mne.Evoked`). If you simply want to add a
+        channel based on values of an np.ndarray, you need to create a
+        :class:`~mne.io.RawArray`.
+        See <https://mne.tools/mne-project-template/auto_examples/plot_mne_objects_from_arrays.html>`_
         """
         # avoid circular imports
         from ..epochs import BaseEpochs