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 Line Number.

Jumping to a Relative Line Number

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated June 26, 2021)

In other issues of WordTips you learn how to jump to a specific line number in your document. If you modify the technique a bit, you can easily jump to a line number relative to your current line number. Follow these steps:

Press F5. Word displays the Go To tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.
On the left side of the dialog box, make sure that you indicate you want to go to a line. (See Figure 1.)

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

Enter the relative line number to which you want to move, preceded by a plus or minus sign. If you use a plus sign, you go forward the specified number of lines; a minus sign moves backwards. As an example, you could jump forward five lines by entering +5.
Click on Go To, or press Enter.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (9593) 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 Line Number.

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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