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: Printing a Bookmark List.

Printing a Bookmark List

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 18, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365


1

Word provides a very powerful bookmark facility that allows you to assign names to either individual positions in your document or to text selections. As you work more with Word, and particularly in long documents, it would be helpful to periodically print a list of bookmarks. Unfortunately, Word does not provide an automatic method of printing bookmarks, as it does with other document-related information. The quickest way to print a bookmark list is to just insert the list in your document and then print it. The following VBA macro inserts the bookmark list at the insertion point:

Sub BkMkList1()
    Dim J as Integer

    Selection.TypeParagraph
    Selection.InsertBreak Type:=wdColumnBreak
    Selection.TypeText Text:="Bookmark list for "
    Selection.TypeText Text:=ActiveDocument.Name
    Selection.TypeParagraph

    For J = 1 To ActiveDocument.Bookmarks.Count
        Selection.TypeText Text:=Chr(9)
        Selection.TypeText Text:=ActiveDocument.Bookmarks(J).Name
        Selection.TypeParagraph
    Next J
    Selection.InsertBreak Type:=wdColumnBreak
End Sub

When you run the macro, a heading indicating the name of the file will be inserted, followed by each bookmark in the file. These will be in alphabetic order. The bookmark list has a column break before it and after it, as well. You can then print out the single page that contains the bookmark list. When you are done printing, you can delete the bookmark list.

You should note that the macro will print all the bookmarks in the document, including any system-generated bookmarks. If you want to exclude those, then you can use a slightly modified version of the macro, like this:

Sub BkMkList2()
    Dim J as Integer

    Selection.TypeParagraph
    Selection.InsertBreak Type:=wdColumnBreak
    Selection.TypeText Text:="Bookmark list for "
    Selection.TypeText Text:=ActiveDocument.Name
    Selection.TypeParagraph

    For J = 1 To ActiveDocument.Bookmarks.Count
        With ActiveDocument.Bookmarks(J)
            If Left(.Name, 1) <> "_" Then
                Selection.TypeText Text:=Chr(9)
                Selection.TypeText Text:=.Name
                Selection.TypeParagraph
            End If
        End With
    Next J
    Selection.InsertBreak Type:=wdColumnBreak
End Sub

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8880) 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: Printing a Bookmark List.

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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Sorting Dates and Times

One of the strong features of Excel is its ability to sort information in a worksheet. When it doesn't sort information ...

Discover More

Tombstone Date Math

Doing math with dates is easy in Excel. Doing math with old dates, such as those you routinely encounter in genealogy, is ...

Discover More

Determining a Random Value

If you need to determine a random value in a macro, you can do so using the Rnd function. This tip presents the syntax ...

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 2013. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2013 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Changing the GoTo Default

Want to get to a bookmark location quickly? One option is to use the F5 key to jump to a bookmark. Perhaps a quicker ...

Discover More

Finding Cross-References to Specific Bookmarks

Word allows you to create a cross-reference to several different types of content in your documents. For instance, you ...

Discover More

Shortcut to Display Bookmarks

It can be helpful to see where the bookmarks are located in a document. This tip provides a quick way that you can both ...

Discover More
Subscribe

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.

What is nine minus 5?

2021-09-18 05:07:58

Ken Endacott

A useful addition is to print out the bookmark followed by the first 30 characters of the bookmarked text . The modified macro is:

Sub BkMkList3()
Dim J As Integer

Selection.TypeParagraph
Selection.InsertBreak Type:=wdColumnBreak
Selection.TypeText Text:="Bookmark list for "
Selection.TypeText Text:=ActiveDocument.Name
Selection.TypeParagraph

For J = 1 To ActiveDocument.Bookmarks.Count
Selection.TypeText Text:=Chr(9)
Selection.TypeText Text:=ActiveDocument.Bookmarks(J).Name & _
Chr(9) & Left(ActiveDocument.Bookmarks(J).Range.Text, 30)

Selection.TypeParagraph
Next J
Selection.InsertBreak Type:=wdColumnBreak
End Sub


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.

Videos
Subscribe

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

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.