Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 9, 2025)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Word in Microsoft 365
Sideheads are document headings that are placed in the margins of your document. This can be done as part of an overall layout design to create a certain image for your information. You can create sideheads in Word using a text box. Follow these general steps to create your sidehead:
Your sidehead has been placed, and you can type text in the newly placed text box. (Make sure you format the text box itself to reflect your design preferences.)
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (11395) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Creating Sideheads.
Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!
Word allows you to specify the starting page number for a document, which comes in handy if you have multiple documents ...
Discover MoreSome types of documents rely upon margin notes to the left or right of your main text. Getting these to appear in Word ...
Discover MoreIf you are creating small flyers (two per page), you may want to include a watermark graphic in the background of each of ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2025-08-09 05:48:52
Robert Love
A disadvantage of this textbox-based approach is that it's fiddly work to get all the sideheads uniformly aligned. As an alternative I have sometimes formatted the entire document as a two-column table with the first column devoted to the sideheads. This approach comes with some disadvantages of its own, however. Such as that keep-lines-together and other paragraphing options don't work properly within table cells.
Has anyone else tried the two-column approach and beem satisfied with it?
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.
Visit the WordTips channel on YouTube
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Comments