Gather materials: 3 wood sticks and 2 wooden planks/stone/iron/gold/diamond (choose the same tier for both)
Open the crafting table (place it first if needed)
Place 2 sticks in the middle column (top and bottom slots)
Place 3 material blocks across the top row (left, middle, right)
Move the pickaxe to your inventory
For a stone pickaxe: use 3 stone in the top row and sticks in the middle column
For an iron pickaxe: use 3 iron ingots in the top row and sticks in the middle column
For a gold pickaxe: use 3 gold ingots in the top row and sticks in the middle column
For a diamond pickaxe: use 3 diamond in the top row and sticks in the middle column
For a netherite pickaxe: upgrade a diamond pickaxe using 1 netherite ingot and 4 netherite scraps in a smithing table