The governing differential equation for buckling of a one-step bar with the effect of shear deformation is established and its exact solution is obtained. Then, the exact solution is used to derive the eigenvalue equation of a multi-step bar. The new exact approach combining the transfer matrix method and the closed form solution of one step bar is presented. The proposed methods is convenient for solving the entire and partial buckling of one-step and multi-step bars with various end conditions, with or without shear deformation effect, subjected to concentrated axial loads. A numerical example is given explaining the proposed procedure and investigating the effect of shear deformation on the critical buckling force of a multi-step bar.