Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Creating an Index Entry for a Range of Pages.

Creating an Index Entry for a Range of Pages

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 14, 2019)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

If you have ever created an index before, you know that it is possible for an index reference to refer to a range of pages. Word makes this type of index entry easy through the use of bookmarks. To do this, follow these steps:

Select the text you want to use as the range of pages in the index. This text may span several pages.
Assign a bookmark to this text selection.
Press Alt+Shift+X to display the Mark Index Entry dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Mark Index Entry dialog box.

In the Main Entry text box, enter the index entry as you want it to appear in the index.
Select the Page Range radio button.
Use the drop-down Bookmark list to select the name of the bookmark you defined in step 2.
Click on Mark.
Repeat steps 4 through 7, as desired.
Click on Close to dismiss the Mark Index Entry dialog box.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (7015) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Creating an Index Entry for a Range of Pages.

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

Picking a Contiguous Range of Table Cells

Creating a table in Word is a relatively simple task. When you want to format or edit information in the table, often the ...

Discover More

Formatting Multiple Documents

Need to format a bunch of documents so they all look the same? If the documents use styles, doing the formatting is ...

Discover More

Entering Tabs in a Table

When you press the Tab key while entering info into a table, Word dutifully moves to the next table cell. If you don't ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! An easy-to-understand guide to the more advanced features available in the Microsoft 365 version of Word. Enhance the quality of your documents and boost productivity in any field with this in-depth resource. Complete your Word-related tasks more efficiently as you unlock lesser-known tools and learn to quickly access the features you need. Check out Microsoft 365 Word For Professionals For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Specifying Index Section Dividers

When adding an index to your document, you can use one of the available field switches to specify how the index should be ...

Discover More

Formatting Issues with Indexing Levels

When you insert an index in a document, Word automatically takes care of formatting that index. What if the index levels ...

Discover More

Inconsistent Formatting in an Index

When indexing a document, you may find that some of your index entries aren't formatted the same as your other index ...

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 three minus 3?

2024-02-02 06:08:21

Cristiane

Thank you very much! I've already visited about ten websites that explain how to create a page range for the Word index and I didn't understand. You were the only one who did it in a simple and detailed way at the same time. In a minute I managed to create one.

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.