How to Create a Microsoft Word Bookmark in Office 365

What is a Bookmark?

A bookmark in Microsoft Word allows you to mark a specific point in a document that you can quickly jump back to later. It works similarly to how you would use a physical bookmark in a book – you can easily flip back to that page to reference something instead of hunting through pages trying to find it again.

Bookmarks are helpful for:

• Navigating long documents
• Creating internal links to different sections
• Marking items you want to refer back to often

How to Insert a Bookmark

Inserting a bookmark in Word is simple:

1. Select the text, image, or place in the document where you want the bookmark inserted
2. On the Insert tab, click Bookmark in the Links section
3. In the Bookmark dialog box, type a unique name for your bookmark in the Bookmark name field
   • Bookmark names must start with a letter
   • You can include numbers and letters, but no spaces
   • Use underscores _ instead of spaces if needed
4. Click Add

The bookmark will now be inserted at that point in the document.

Viewing and Managing Bookmarks

To view, navigate between, or manage bookmarks:

• Click the View tab > Show group > Navigation Pane to open the navigation pane
• Select the Headings tab in the navigation pane
• Bookmarks will be listed along with headings
  • Click a bookmark to jump to its location
• Right-click a bookmark to delete, rename, or navigate to it

Creating Hyperlinks to Bookmarks

You can create hyperlinks that will jump you to a specific bookmark:

1. Select the text or object you want to be the hyperlink
2. On the Insert tab, click Hyperlink
3. In the box on the left, choose Place in This Document
4. Select the desired bookmark you want to link to
5. Click OK

Now clicking that hyperlinked text will take you directly to the bookmark.

Using Bookmarks for Navigation

Bookmarks are extremely useful for navigating long documents:

• You can create a table of contents linking to section bookmarks at the top of a document for easy navigation
• Add bookmarks beside related sections, then link between them for quick cross-referencing while writing
• Create a bookmark index page with hyperlinks to bookmarks for an interactive navigation page

Tips for Using Bookmarks Effectively

Follow these tips when working with bookmarks:

• Use clear, descriptive bookmark names like Introduction, Methodology, Results
• Sort bookmarks by location to see them sequentially as they appear in the document
• Show hidden bookmarks to reveal automatically created ones like table of contents links
• Set bookmarks at major headings, key points, complex sections to simplify navigation
• Rename bookmarks instead of deleting/recreating if a section name changes
• Link between interrelated sections using bookmark hyperlinks
• Create bookmark links from recurring references to reduce duplicate information

More Uses for Bookmarks:

Beyond navigation, bookmarks are also useful for:

• Automating document assembly: Create reusable content blocks with bookmarks, then assemble documents using macros or fields to pull in the bookmark content
• Building templates: Have new documents pre-populated with bookmark placeholders for common sections
• Enabling comments: Add comments anchored to bookmarks for feedback on specific sections
• Inserting content controls: Link content controls to bookmarks to protect portions of documents

So if you have a long document, add some bookmarks! It makes navigating, formatting, editing, and managing your document much easier. Bookmarks are an indispensable tool for Word power users.