HowTo Schema
HowTo schema is a block of code that tells search engines a page holds step-by-step instructions, along with the steps, the tools and supplies, and the time the job takes. Schema.org, which publishes the labels this code uses, defines HowTo as instructions that explain how to achieve a result by performing a sequence of steps.
Source: Schema.org, HowTo type, checked October 29, 2026
What HowTo Schema means for your business
Google used to turn this code into a how-to result that showed the steps right in search. In August 2023 it limited those results to desktop. On September 13, 2023 it stopped showing them on desktop too and called the result type deprecated, and it said the matching Search Console report and Rich Results Test support would go as well. Google has since taken down its HowTo documentation.
The type still exists on Schema.org, so the code itself is valid. If your site already has it and it matches the page, it can stay. We just wouldn't count on it for anything in Google, and we wouldn't charge you to add it.
The steps matter more than the code. A job a customer can do alone, like resetting a tripped outlet or getting a lawn ready for aeration, reads best as a short numbered list on the page. Give one action per step, and put any warning before the step it belongs to.
If your how-to guides hide the steps inside long paragraphs, breaking them into steps a reader can follow is part of our answer engine work.
Last reviewed October 29, 2026. All terms
How AI answers it today
On October 29, 2026, ChatGPT and Google's AI Overview both said Google retired HowTo results. The Overview cited schema tools, agency blogs and Schema.org, and said the code helps AI tools, a claim from its sources that Google's own pages don't make.
Our run through ChatGPT and Google's AI Overview, October 29, 2026. A sample, not what every buyer sees.
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