Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. 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

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated December 14, 2019)

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 Word in Microsoft 365. 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...

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