Displaying the Navigation Pane

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 29, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

As you are working with large or complex documents, it is often easy to lose your place and spend a lot of time trying to find information. Word includes a tool that can help you navigate through your document quickly and easily. This tool is generally referred to as the Navigation pane, though if you are still using Word 2007 you may know it as the Document Map. (Microsoft changed the name from Document Map to Navigation pane with the introduction of Word 2010.)

Displaying the Navigation pane or the Document Map is easy. Start by displaying the View tab of the ribbon. Then, in the Show group (in Word 2007 look for the Show/Hide group) make sure the Navigation Pane or Document Map check box is selected. You follow these same steps to turn this feature on and off. You can also close the Navigation pane by clicking the X in the upper-right corner of the pane. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Navigation Pane.

You can tell when you are using either the Navigation pane or the Document Map because an outline of your document appears at the left side of the screen, with the document text at the right.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (6029) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Embedding TrueType Fonts in E-mails Composed in Word

When you use Word as your e-mail editor, it allows you to format the text of your e-mail messages using tools you are ...

Discover More

Finding Text Boxes

Need to search for various text boxes in your document? It's easy to do with the handy macro provided in this tip.

Discover More

Making Macros Available without Using the Normal Template

If you save your macros in your Normal template, they'll be available whenever you are using Word. What if you don't want ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2019. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2019 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Returning to the Source of a Cross-Reference

If you add cross-references to your document, you may want a way for the reader to follow the reference and then return ...

Discover More

Creating Multiple Highlighter Tools

Some people, while developing documents, like to use the Highlighter tool quite a bit. It can quickly get monotonous, ...

Discover More

Translating Text

Word includes several different tools you can use to improve your writing. One such tool is the translation tool. Here's ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is eight minus 3?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.