Use Bookmarks to Navigate Word Documents Faster

Have you ever had a large Word document and needed to get to a specific part of it quickly? Here we take a look at how to add bookmarks to sections of Word 2003, 2007 & 2010 Documents.

Add a Bookmark in Word 2010

To create a bookmark in a specific area of a Word 2010 document, simply place the cursor where you want the bookmark. 

Then under the Insert tab on the Ribbon, in the Links section, click on Bookmark.

A Bookmark dialog comes up and you can give it a name. You have to use letters and / numbers without any spaces or special characters. After you name it click the Add button.

So in this example we’re reading a different part of the document and want to go back to the bookmark we just made. Click on Bookmark again.

The Bookmark dialog comes up where you can select which bookmark you want to go to. Notice here we have three bookmarks, you can essentially add as many as you need.

Bookmarks in Word 2007 & 2003

The process if pretty much the same in Word 2007 & 2003. Open your document, select where you want a bookmark, click the Insert tab, then Bookmark on the Ribbon.

One of the neat things is when we entered bookmarks to the document while it was open in Word 2010, the same bookmarks where available when opened in 2007 or 2003.

You can show hidden bookmarks and navigate to different locations throughout the document that way as well.

The feature is included Word 2003 too, so no matter what version of Word you’re using, you’ll be able to navigate through long documents faster.

If you create a document as a .docx in 2007 or 2010 before opening it in 2003, you’ll need to make sure you have the Office Compatibility Compatibility Pack installed.

Adding a Bookmark or two is a great way to navigate to specific parts of large documents. It’s much easier than scrolling through the entire thing.