Abstract: In order to provide a thin film magnetic head having a high performance as well as a method of manufacturing the same, in which throat height TH of a pole portion and MR height MRH can be formed accurately to have desired design values for improving a surface recording density and reducing a side fringe magnetic flux during a writing, an MR film 46 is formed such that the film is embedded in a shield gap layer formed on a substrate 41, 42, a first magnetic layer 47 is formed on the shield gap layer, a thin film coil 49, 51 is formed on the first magnetic layer such that the coil is isolated by an insulating layer 48, 50, 52, and a second magnetic layer 54 is formed in accordance with a given pattern. The gap layer 53 is selectively removed by an anisotropic etching in the vicinity of side walls of a pole portion 54a of the second magnetic layer 54, and then the first magnetic layer is partially removed by an ion milling to form a recess 55 having an inner side wall 54a which serves as a positional reference.