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Guide
Record your first guide
Click through a task once and get a step-by-step guide, using “add a user in the admin portal” as the example.
- Plan
- Free
- Reading time
- 3 min read
- Checked against Thoth for Windows on
- October 23, 2026
This walks through a whole guide from the first click to the PDF. The example is a task a help desk repeats all the time: adding a user in an admin portal. Use any task you know well, ideally with sample data rather than a real person’s details.
Before you press record
- Open the app and get to the screen where the task starts.
- Close chat windows and notification pop-ups, which would end up in screenshots.
- Walk through the task once without recording, so you don’t stumble.
- Use sample or test data wherever you type.
- 1
Create the guide
In the library choose New guide (on a first run it is Create your first guide). Thoth opens the editor on an empty guide. Click the title at the top and give it a name, such as
Add a user in the admin portal. - 2
Open Capture steps
Choose Capture steps in the editor’s header. Pick what to capture: the Full screen you click on, the Clicked window, or a Selected region you draw. For a first guide, Full screen is the simplest. Then choose Start capturing.
The Capture steps dialog, and the control bar that stays on top while you record. - 3
Do the task
Thoth minimizes and a small control bar stays on top. Work the way you normally would. Every click takes a screenshot and becomes a step named after the control you clicked, such as Click “Users”.
When you type into a field, the text becomes a step like Type “Dana Reyes” in “Display name” once you press Enter or Tab or click somewhere else. Thoth reads the field, never your keystrokes.
- 4
Fix mistakes as you go
The control bar shows the title of the latest step in a box you can edit. Undo last step removes a step you didn’t want. Ctrl+Alt+P pauses and resumes, and Ctrl+Alt+C takes a step without a click, for example to show a menu that opens when you hover.
- 5
Finish
Choose Finish on the control bar, or press Ctrl+Alt+R. Thoth comes back with your steps in the editor.
- 6
Tidy it up
Read down the page. Rename vague steps, add a sentence where a step needs explaining, and mark up a screenshot with an arrow or a blur. Press E on a step to open its screenshot in the editor. Edit a guide covers the details.
The editor: the outline of steps on the left, one page of step cards on the right. - 7
Share it
Choose Export (or press Ctrl+E), pick PDF, check the preview and export. Choose an export format says which format suits which job.
The screenshot is taken before the app reacts
By default Thoth grabs the screen the instant you press the mouse button, so a click that opens a menu is captured before the menu appears. To show what a click opens instead, add a screenshot delay under Settings → Capturing.
Let Thoth hide the private bits
With Pro, Thoth blurs emails, phone and card numbers, keys and password fields as you record. Turn it on under Settings → Privacy: Blur sensitive information automatically.
Starting capture with the keyboard#
With a guide open in the editor, Ctrl+Alt+R starts capturing straight away using the same area as last time, from any program. Press it again to finish. Ctrl+Alt+S adds a single screenshot to the open guide without starting a capture. Change any of these under Settings → Hotkeys; Keyboard shortcuts has the full list.