How to get step-by-step instructions for anything on your computer

1. A written list of steps

Searching “how to [do the thing] step by step” usually turns up a numbered list. It's better than nothing, but written steps assume your screen looks exactly like the author's — and menus move between versions. You end up hunting for a button that's been renamed or relocated.

2. A how-to video

Videos show you someone else's computer. You watch, pause, switch back to your screen, realise your layout is different, rewind, and repeat. Nothing checks whether you're keeping up — it just keeps talking. And by tomorrow, it's gone.

3. An interactive, on-screen tutorial (the best way)

The clearest step-by-step instructions happen on your own screen. That's what PathTutorial does: it points an arrow at the real button — wherever it is on your display — speaks the step in plain words, and waits until you've actually done it before moving to the next one. No pausing, no rewinding, no “where is that on my screen?”

• ➤It finds the real button on your screen, at any resolution or window size.
• ➤Every step is spoken aloud and written in a bubble — replay it as often as you like.
• ➤It waits for you. It only moves on when you've done the step.
• ➤You did it with your own hands, so it sticks.

How to get one for your exact task

You don't have to wait for someone to publish the guide you need. Describe your task to the PathTutorial assistant (or your own ChatGPT / Claude), and it builds you a step-by-step tutorial on the spot. Open it in the free Player and follow the arrow.

Or browse ready-made step-by-step tutorials for common apps — Excel, Word, Outlook, Windows and more — in the library.