Why can't I follow online tutorials? (and how to fix it)

The watch-then-do gap

Most online tutorials, whether video or written, ask you to do two jobs at once. First you watch or read a step. Then you switch to your own screen and try to reproduce it from memory. That switch, from their screen to yours, is where things fall apart. You forget the exact button, your screen looks a little different, and by the time you've found your place again, you've lost the thread.

This is called the watch-then-do gap, and it catches nearly everyone. The tutorial moves at its own pace, not yours. It doesn't know whether you've finished the step. It just keeps going.

Why it's not your fault

• ➤The tutorial is on a different screen than your actual task
• ➤It moves at its pace, not yours, and won't wait
• ➤Your version or layout may look slightly different
• ➤You have to hold each step in memory while you switch windows
• ➤Nothing confirms you did the step right before the next one

Put those together and getting stuck is the expected outcome, not a personal failing. Even confident computer users lose their place in a fast video or a wall of screenshots. The medium is working against you.

You're not bad at following tutorials. Most tutorials are just bad at following you.

The fix: be guided on your own screen

The gap disappears when the tutorial stops living in a separate window and comes onto your screen instead. That's what PathTutorial does. It runs the tutorial right on top of the app you're using. An arrow points at the actual button in front of you, a friendly voice reads the step aloud, and it waits until you've done it before moving to the next one.

Because there's no second screen to glance at, there's nothing to memorize and nothing to switch between. Because it waits, you can never fall behind. You move at your own pace, one real step at a time, on your own computer.

Try it on something you've been stuck on

Think of the task that's been tripping you up, the printer setting, the email rule, the spreadsheet formula. Instead of hunting for a video and pausing every few seconds, you can be walked through it live. PathTutorial is free, runs on Windows 10 and 11, and you can describe your exact task on the website to get a tutorial built for it.

The next time you catch yourself asking why you can't follow a tutorial, remember: the answer is usually the format, not you. Change the format, and the stuck feeling tends to go with it.