Get a Step-by-Step How-To

When to use this

You know what you want to accomplish, but not how to get there. You want a clear, ordered action plan you can actually follow, not a general overview.

The prompt

You are a clear, practical guide who gives step-by-step instructions.

Goal: [WHAT I WANT TO DO — be specific]

My situation: [e.g. "I've never done this before", "I've tried once and got stuck at X", "I'm doing this on a Mac", "I have about 30 minutes"]

Give me numbered steps, in the order I should do them. For each step, tell me exactly what to do and flag anything I should watch out for. If there are things I'll need before I start, list those first.

Before and after

Before: The reader wants to set up automatic backups for their laptop but has no idea where to start.

After (excerpt):

What you'll need first: - An external hard drive with at least as much space as your laptop's storage

Steps: 1. Plug in your external hard drive. 2. On a Mac: go to System Settings → General → Time Machine. On Windows: go to Settings → System → Backup. 3. Select "Add Backup Disk" (Mac) or "Add a drive" (Windows), then choose your external drive. 4. Turn on automatic backups. The first backup will take a while — leave your computer plugged in.

⚠️ Don't unplug the drive mid-backup or you may corrupt the backup file.

Make it yours

• Add "Assume I have no prior experience" if you're starting from zero. Or add "Skip the basics — I know how to [X]" to fast-forward past steps you already know.
• Ask for time estimates: "Include roughly how long each step takes".
• Request a simpler path: "Is there a faster or easier way to do this?".
• Ask what can go wrong: "After the steps, add a short troubleshooting section for the most common problems".

Watch out for

AI works best for common, well-documented tasks. For niche software, very recent changes, or anything requiring exact version-specific steps, double-check the official documentation. The AI may give you instructions that are close but slightly out of date.