A step-by-step guide template (and a faster way to skip it)

A step-by-step guide template gives every guide the same predictable structure so it’s fast to write and easy to follow. A good one has six parts: a clear title, the goal, prerequisites, numbered steps (one action and screenshot each), tips or edge cases, and a next step. Copy the skeleton below — or skip the blank page entirely and capture the guide automatically.

The template

Use this structure for any how-to guide:

• Title— the task, phrased as the reader’s goal (“How to connect your calendar”).
• Goal — one sentence on what the reader will have accomplished by the end.
• Prerequisites — access, inputs, or setup needed before step one.
• Steps — numbered, one imperative instruction each, paired with a screenshot that shows the action.
• Tips & edge cases— what to do when the happy path doesn’t hold.
• Next step — where to go after finishing, so the guide connects to the rest.

How to fill it in

Keep each step to a single action. If a step contains the word “and,” it’s probably two steps. Every step should have a screenshot with the exact click marked — text-only instructions are where readers get lost. Write in the imperative (“Click,” “Enter,” “Select”), not the passive.

The faster alternative: capture instead of fill

The honest truth about templates is that the screenshots are the slow part, and they’re the first thing to go stale. Instead of filling a template by hand, you can record the task onceand have each step, instruction, and screenshot generated for you — the template, filled in automatically. It’s the same idea as turning any workflow into a guide without writing it.

A template solves the “what goes where” problem. Capture-first solves the “who has time to take all these screenshots” problem — which is the one that actually stops guides from getting written.

However you build it, publish the finished guide somewhere searchable — a branded knowledge base beats a document lost in a drive folder every time.