How to create step-by-step guides in Notion (with a reusable template)

Step by step

Create a Guides database

In Notion, add a new page and choose a table database. Name it Guides and add properties: Owner (Person), Tool (Select), Status (Select: Draft, Published, Needs check) and Last checked (Date). These four make it obvious which guides to trust.

Add a database template for a guide page

Click the dropdown arrow next to New at the top right of the database and select + New template. Give the template a fixed structure: a one-line goal, a 'You need' list, a heading for Steps and a heading for the video. Set Status to Draft by default so new guides never look final by accident.

Record the task once with Guidie

Open the app the task happens in, click the Guidie extension and press Start. Do the task at normal speed; every click, field and choice becomes a step, with a screenshot from just before the action. Typed text is never recorded. Press Stop when you're done.

Review the generated steps

Guidie writes one instruction per step, with the button or field name in bold, plus a title, summary and tips. Read it once as if you'd never done the task. If a step is wrong, rewrite or regenerate just that step.

Create the guide page from your template

Back in Notion, click New in the Guides database and pick your template. Paste the title and goal, then copy the steps under the Steps heading as a numbered list. Notion keeps the numbering when you paste a list.

Add the narrated video

In Guidie, render the video and download the MP4. In Notion, type /video under the video heading and upload the file. People who'd rather watch can play it without leaving the page.

Publish and set a check date

Set Status to Published, fill Owner and Last checked, and share the database with the people who need it. Create a filtered view of guides whose Last checked date is more than 90 days old, so the owner knows what to re-record.

Notion workflows worth documenting first

Requesting time off

Usually a form or a database entry in Notion itself. A guide stops the same three questions in chat every month.

Filing an expense in your finance tool

Link the guide from your Notion finance page. Expense tools change often, so give it a short check interval.

Setting up a new laptop or account

Split it into several short guides (email, chat, VPN) instead of one long one, and link them from an onboarding page.

Publishing a page to your help centre

If your team writes public docs in Notion, record the publishing steps once, including who approves.

Why a database, not a page of links

A single "How-to" page with links works for five guides and falls apart at fifty. A database gives every guide properties you can filter on. The two that matter most are Owner (who fixes it when it breaks) and Last checked (whether to trust it). A filtered view of stale guides turns maintenance into a short list instead of a guessing game.

Template tips

Put the goal in one sentence at the top: "Invite a teammate to the workspace." Readers check in seconds whether they're on the right page.
Keep a "You need" section: permissions, accounts or files someone needs before starting.
If you want a one-click way to add a guide from another page, Notion's button block can add a page to a database; combined with your database template, that page starts with the right structure.

Keeping screenshots honest

Screenshots go stale faster than text. When a guide's tool changes its design, re-record the task rather than editing images. With a recording tool, that takes about as long as doing the task once, and the screenshots, text and video all update together.

Questions people ask

Can Guidie export directly to Notion?

Not yet. Today you copy the written steps into Notion and upload the MP4 with a /video block. Direct exports are on Guidie's roadmap.

Should each guide be a separate Notion page?

Yes, as a row in one Guides database. That gives you search, owners, statuses and filtered views such as 'needs check'.

Who can use a Notion database template?

Templates live in the database where you create them. Anyone who can add pages to that database can use them.

How to create step-by-step guides in Notion