Working with Master and Subdocuments

Janice can't seem to find how to work with master documents and subdocuments in Word 2007 or Word 2010. She wonders if, perhaps, Microsoft got rid of the capability and, if so, how she can work with master and subdocuments created in earlier versions of Word.

Word still allows you to work with master and subdocuments; it just has made the tools a bit more difficult to locate.

It helps to remember that in the view of Microsoft, the entire concept of master and subdocuments is one of organization—you create subdocuments (and reference them in a master document) as a way to organize the content in that set of documents. Viewed in this way, it helps to explain why the master and subdocument tools ended up on the Outlining tab of the ribbon.

In order to display the Outlining tab of the ribbon, all you need to do is switch your document to Outline view. (The easiest way to do this is to simply click the Outline view button at the right side of the Status bar.) With a master document loaded (or a document you want to use as a master document), you can click the Show Document tool in order to display all the other master and subdocument tools that you may be used to from earlier versions of Word.

If you prefer that the tools be a bit more accessible than on the Outlining tab of the ribbon, then you can modify your Quick Access Toolbar, as described in other issues of WordTips, to add the tools. If you display all the tools you can add to the Quick Access Toolbar, you will find the following tools the most useful:

• Collapse Subdocuments. This tool does exactly what it says—collapses any subdocuments so you see only their reference in the master document.
• Master Document. This tool is effectively equivalent to the Show Document tool. When you click it, your document is switched to Outline view and you see the Outlining tab of the ribbon.
• Master Document. Yes, this tool has a duplicate name from the previous tool. You can tell it from the previous tool, however, because it has a down-arrow to the right of the tool. It displays the entire Master Document group—all the tools—that normally appear on the Outlining tab of the ribbon.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (11200) applies to Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010.