Embodiments of the invention relate to manufacturing method of a magnetic head slider which flies stably even with a reduced peripheral speed resulting from a trend toward a magnetic disk having a smaller diameter. According to one embodiment, a method of manufacturing a magnetic head slider comprises forming a leading side rail surface and a trailing side rail surface, a leading stepped bearing surface and a trailing stepped bearing surface, and a negative-pressure groove surface on an air bearing surface through etching, forming a first stepped surface on the leading side rail surface through sputtering, and forming a second stepped surface by forming a carbon layer on the first stepped surface through sputtering. The first stepped surface has a first height with respect to the leading side rail surface and the second stepped surface has a second height with respect to the first stepped surface.