diff --git a/cmd/incus/operation.go b/cmd/incus/operation.go
index 75eaddca2e0..dd7238830e6 100644
--- a/cmd/incus/operation.go
+++ b/cmd/incus/operation.go
@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@ type cmdOperationList struct {
 	operation *cmdOperation
 
 	flagFormat      string
+	flagColumns     string
 	flagAllProjects bool
 }
 
@@ -105,15 +106,39 @@ func (c *cmdOperationList) Command() *cobra.Command {
 	cmd.Aliases = []string{"ls"}
 	cmd.Short = i18n.G("List background operations")
 	cmd.Long = cli.FormatSection(i18n.G("Description"), i18n.G(
-		`List background operations`))
+		`List background operations
+		
+Default column layout: itdscCl
+
+== Columns ==
+The -c option takes a comma separated list of arguments that control
+which instance attributes to output when displaying in table or csv
+format.
+
+Column arguments are either pre-defined shorthand chars (see below),
+or (extended) config keys.
+
+Commas between consecutive shorthand chars are optional.
+
+Pre-defined column shorthand chars:
+  i - iD
+  t - type
+  d - description
+  s - state
+  c - cancelable
+  C - Created
+  l - location`))
 	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&c.flagFormat, "format", "f", "table", i18n.G("Format (csv|json|table|yaml|compact)")+"``")
 	cmd.Flags().BoolVar(&c.flagAllProjects, "all-projects", false, i18n.G("List operations from all projects")+"``")
+	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&c.flagColumns, "columns", "c", defaultOperationColumns, i18n.G("Columns")+"``")
 
 	cmd.RunE = c.Run
 
 	return cmd
 }
 
+const defaultOperationColumns = "itdscCl"
+
 func (c *cmdOperationList) Run(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	// Quick checks.
 	exit, err := c.global.CheckArgs(cmd, args, 0, 1)