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

Playing with a Full Deck

Ever need to populate some cells in your worksheet with a range of data, but in random order? Here's a handy macro to get ...

Discover More

Increasing Space between Numbers and Text in a List

You can easily create numbered lists in your document. Most versions of Word even allow you to modify the distance ...

Discover More

Shortcut Key to Delete a Paragraph

There are numerous ways you can delete paragraphs as you are editing your document. This tip looks at a couple of the ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Mass Search and Replace

If you need to change information in dozens or even hundreds of documents, the task can seem insurmountable. Here's a way ...

Discover More

Displaying Quick Document Statistics

Need to see how many pages, words, paragraphs, or lines are in your document? Word makes it easy to retrieve such ...

Discover More

Crosschecking Citations and References

Word allows you to enter citations and references within your document. If you need to develop these types of documents, ...

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 3 + 9?

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.