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: Jumping to a Relative Section.

Jumping to a Relative Section

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

In other issues of WordTips you learn how you can use the Go To function to jump to a specific section in your document. If you have quite a few sections in your document, you may find this tip helpful. You can also use the Go To function to jump to a section relative to the current section. This is done in this manner:

Press F5. Word displays the Go To tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.
Choose Section in the left side of the dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Go To tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.

In the Enter Section Number box, enter a plus or minus sign and how many section numbers you want to jump. Plus is forward; minus is backward. For instance, you could jump back three sections by entering -3.
Click on the Go To button. (The Next button changes to the Go To button after step 3.)

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (9168) 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: Jumping to a Relative Section.

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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