diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 8643002fec..4d5caa64b1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,14 @@
 
 ## DFX
 
+### feat: NNS usability improvements
+
+The command line interface for nns commands has been updated to:
+
+- Give better help when the subnet type is incorrect
+- Not offer --network as a flag given that it is unused
+- List nns subcommands
+
 ### fix: Compute Motoko dependencies in linear (not exponential) time by detecting visited imports.
 
 ### fix(generate): add missing typescript types and fix issues with bindings array in dfx.json
diff --git a/src/dfx/src/commands/nns/mod.rs b/src/dfx/src/commands/nns/mod.rs
index 90685a8197..34d577b5d4 100644
--- a/src/dfx/src/commands/nns/mod.rs
+++ b/src/dfx/src/commands/nns/mod.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 use crate::lib::environment::Environment;
 use crate::lib::error::DfxResult;
 use crate::lib::provider::create_agent_environment;
-use crate::NetworkOpt;
 
 use clap::Parser;
 use tokio::runtime::Runtime;
@@ -18,26 +17,20 @@ pub struct NnsOpts {
     /// `dfx nns` subcommand arguments.
     #[clap(subcommand)]
     subcmd: SubCommand,
-
-    /// An argument to choose the network from those specified in dfx.json.
-    #[clap(flatten)]
-    network: NetworkOpt,
 }
 
 /// Command line options for subcommands of `dfx nns`.
 #[derive(Parser)]
 enum SubCommand {
-    /// Options for importing NNS API definitions and canister IDs.
-    #[clap(hide(true))]
+    /// Import NNS API definitions and canister IDs.
     Import(import::ImportOpts),
-    /// Options for installing an NNS.
-    #[clap(hide(true))]
+    /// Install an NNS on the local dfx server.
     Install(install::InstallOpts),
 }
 
 /// Executes `dfx nns` and its subcommands.
 pub fn exec(env: &dyn Environment, opts: NnsOpts) -> DfxResult {
-    let env = create_agent_environment(env, opts.network.network)?;
+    let env = create_agent_environment(env, None)?;
     let runtime = Runtime::new().expect("Unable to create a runtime");
     runtime.block_on(async {
         match opts.subcmd {
diff --git a/src/dfx/src/lib/nns/install_nns.rs b/src/dfx/src/lib/nns/install_nns.rs
index f5169b8dc6..2689b54b08 100644
--- a/src/dfx/src/lib/nns/install_nns.rs
+++ b/src/dfx/src/lib/nns/install_nns.rs
@@ -320,7 +320,30 @@ fn local_replica_type(env: &dyn Environment) -> anyhow::Result<ReplicaSubnetType
 pub fn verify_local_replica_type_is_system(env: &dyn Environment) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     match local_replica_type(env) {
         Ok(ReplicaSubnetType::System) => Ok(()),
-        other => Err(anyhow!("The replica subnet_type needs to be \"system\" to run NNS canisters. Current value: {other:?}. You can configure it by setting defaults.replica.subnet_type in your project's dfx.json or by setting local.replica.subnet_type in your global networks.json to \"system\".")),
+        other => Err(anyhow!(
+            r#"The replica subnet_type needs to be 'system' to run NNS canisters. Current value: {other:?}.
+             
+             You can configure it by setting local.replica.subnet_type to "system" in your global networks.json:
+             
+             1) Create or edit: {}
+             2) Set the local config to:
+                 {{
+                   "local": {{
+                     "bind": "127.0.0.1:8080",
+                     "type": "ephemeral",
+                     "replica": {{
+                       "subnet_type": "application"
+                     }}
+                   }}
+                 }}
+             3) Verify that you have no network configurations in dfx.json.
+             4) Restart dfx:
+                 dfx stop
+                 dfx start --clean
+             
+             "#,
+            env.get_networks_config().get_path().to_string_lossy()
+        )),
     }
 }