Walkthrough vs. Walk Through
“Walkthrough” is commonly a noun for a rehearsal or step-by-step guide, while “walk through” is a phrasal verb used for rehearsing or guiding someone through a process. Cambridge also records hyphenated “walk-through” in noun use.
Use “walk through” as a verb (“I’ll walk you through it”). Use “walkthrough” as a noun for a guide or rehearsal; “walk-through” is also recorded as a noun variant.
Key details
Choose the right form
| Function | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb / phrasal verb | walk through | I’ll walk you through the setup. |
| Noun for a guide or rehearsal | walkthrough | Read the walkthrough first. |
| Noun variant recorded with a hyphen | walk-through | We did a final walk-through. |
Quick tests
Part-of-speech test
Are you naming a guide/rehearsal, or describing the action of guiding someone through something?
If yes: For the action, use “walk through.”
If no: For the noun, use “walkthrough” or the documented hyphenated noun form according to style.
Caveat: Do not collapse every occurrence into one spelling; grammatical function changes the form.
Examples
I’ll walk you through the new dashboard.
The two-word form is the verb phrase.
The setup walkthrough covers all five steps.
The closed form functions as a noun modifier based on the noun “walkthrough.”
I will walkthrough the process with you.
Better: I will walk through the process with you.
The action is expressed with the two-word verb phrase.
Further guidance
Core difference
Use one-word “walkthrough” as a noun in many modern contexts; use two-word “walk through” when it is a verb.
Fast Test
If you can put a subject before it and an object after it—“I’ll walk you through the setup”—use the two-word verb. If you mean the guide or rehearsal itself, use a noun form.
Hyphen Boundary
“Walk-through” is also recorded as a noun form in some contexts, so house style can affect whether the noun is closed or hyphenated.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- Walkthrough — English meaning (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Dictionary noun record for walkthrough
- Walk through something — English meaning (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Dictionary phrasal-verb and walk-through noun/adjective forms