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How-to
Edit a guide
Work with steps in the editor: add, move, nest and delete them, write clearly, and check the guide before you share it.
- Plan
- Free
- Reading time
- 3 min read
- Checked against Thoth for Windows on
- October 23, 2026
A guide is a title, an optional introduction and a list of steps. Each step has a title, a description, usually a screenshot, and any notes you add. Everything saves as you type.
Add steps#
Besides recording, you can add steps one at a time. Use the + between two steps (Insert step here), or the options on an empty guide:
| Choice | Adds |
|---|---|
| Screenshot | A step with one new screenshot. Thoth hides itself while you grab it. |
| Paste image (Ctrl+V) | A step from an image on your clipboard. |
| Images from files… | A step for each picture you choose. |
| Empty step | A step to fill in yourself. |
| Content block (text only) | Text with no number and no screenshot, for an overview, a heading or a warning that stands on its own. |
| Steps from another guide… | Copies steps you pick from another guide. |
| Reusable steps… | Steps shared between guides. See Reusable steps. |
Organize steps#
- Drag a step in the outline, or press Alt+↑ and Alt+↓.
- Press Tab to make a step a substep of the one above it, and Shift+Tab to move it back out. Substeps are numbered 2.1, 2.2 and so on.
- Select several steps with Shift and click for a range, or Ctrl and click to add one at a time, then move, duplicate or delete them together.
- Ctrl+D duplicates a step. Del moves it to Deleted steps, where you can bring it back; Ctrl+Z also undoes it.
The step’s ••• menu has switches that change how it is exported:
- Skip in export keeps the step in your guide and leaves it out of every export and of Guide Me. Use it for notes to yourself, or a step that applies to only some readers.
- Start on a new page begins a new page in PDF and Word.
- Text-only content block turns the step into a block of text.
Each step also has a Status chip (To do, In progress, Done) for your own tracking while you edit a long guide. It appears when you hover the step.
Write steps people can follow#
Thoth names steps from what you clicked, which is a good start. Keep the text short and in the order things happen on screen.
Do
- Start the title with the action: Click “Save”, Type your work email.
- Put one action in each step. If a step says “and then”, split it.
- Say what the reader should see afterward when it isn’t obvious.
- Put a warning before the step it is about, not after.
Don’t
- Leave “Click here” titles. A reader can’t tell what “here” was.
- Describe what the screenshot already shows.
- Pack a whole paragraph into a title.
- Use screenshots with someone’s real email, name or card on them.
Check the guide#
Choose Check this guide in the header for a score out of 100 and a list of what to fix. Each problem has a button that takes you there.
| It looks for | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Personal info visible in a screenshot and not blurred; typed personal info with nothing blurred; screenshots not yet checked | Keeping private details out of what you share. See Blur by hand. |
| A step with no title, an automatic title (like “Click here”), a very long title, a step that repeats the one before, an empty step | Steps people can scan. |
| A choice that leads nowhere | Broken branches. See Branching steps. |
| A missing introduction or guide title, screenshots with no alt text | Context for readers and for screen readers. |
Alt text is a short description of a screenshot for people who can’t see it. Open it from a step’s image menu (Alt text…). If you leave it empty, exports use the step title.