Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Office 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: Creating an Index Entry.

Creating an Index Entry

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated May 7, 2019)

1

Word includes a feature that allows you to automatically create an index for your document. How you create the actual index is explained in a different tip, but first you must insert index entries throughout your document. These entries are used by Word to pull together the information that is placed in the index. To create an index entry, follow these steps:

  1. Select the text you wish to appear as the index entry.
  2. Press Alt+Shift+X. Word displays the Mark Index Entry dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

    3. Figure 1. The Mark Index Entry dialog box.

  3. Click on Mark.
  4. If you want to mark additional index entries, select them in your document, and then click on Mark.
  5. Click on Close to dismiss the Mark Index Entry dialog box.

Word also allows you to create index subentries. These are index entries that are subordinate to other index entries, and generally appear indented under the main index entry. To insert an index subentry, follow these steps:

  1. Select the text you wish to appear as the subentry.
  2. Press Alt+Shift+X. Word displays the Mark Index Entry dialog box. Notice that the text you selected is shown in the Main Entry text box.
  3. Press Ctrl+C to copy the selected Main Entry text to the Clipboard.
  4. Position the insertion point in the Subentry text box.
  5. Press Ctrl+V to paste the text into the Subentry text box.
  6. Change the information in the Main Entry text box to indicate the main index entry to which this subentry should be subordinate.
  7. Click on Mark.
  8. Click on Close to dismiss the Mark Index Entry dialog box.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (12617) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Office 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Creating an Index Entry.

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

Embedding Fonts in a Document

Fonts are essential to getting your text to look just the way you want it to look. If you have a font that you use in a ...

Discover More

Configuring Spell Check for Internet Addresses

When writing technical documents, URLs are a common thing to include in your text. Normally Word will mark these as ...

Discover More

Stopping Row Breaking for Many Tables

Got a lot of tables you need to format all at once? While you could make your changes manually, a much quicker way is to ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Deleting Index Entries

When you construct an index you need to insert all sorts of index fields throughout your document. If you want to later ...

Discover More

Including Section Numbers in an Index

When you use Word to create your index, you'll normally only include a page number in the index. If you want to create an ...

Discover More

Specifying a Collating Sequence for Indexes

The indexing feature provided by Word can be a great help, but in some situations it may not sort your index as you ...

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.

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

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}] 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 four more than 0?

2016-03-02 03:47:40

P K Jain

Though TIP this is good at explaining the Subentry procedure. However, if several Sub-entries are to be made under ONE SINGLE Main Entry, it looks the process shall have to be repeated with every subentry.
My querry is -
Is there a procedure to enter several subentries under ONe Main Entry in one go ?

I have observed that if a OWN Text is added as Index, Mark ALL facility is not available. Why so ? Having this facility would make the procedure much simpler. What do you feel ?

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.

Newest Tips
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.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR AUTHORS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2019 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.