Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. 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: Cross-Referencing Index Entries.

Cross-Referencing Index Entries

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 21, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021


1

Creating index entries in a Word document is easy, as you learn in other WordTips. It is not uncommon to cross-reference items in an index, and such cross-references require a change in how you create the index entries. For instance, instead of page numbers after an entry, you might have the text See Johnson, Abigail. To insert a cross-reference in an index entry, follow these steps:

  1. Select the text you wish to appear as the main index entry. This is the text under which the cross reference will appear.
  2. Press Alt+Shift+X. Word displays the Mark Index Entry dialog box. Notice that the Main Entry text box is already filled in with the text you specified in step 1. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The Mark Index Entry dialog box.

  4. Select the Cross-reference radio button.
  5. In the text box to the right of the Cross-reference radio button, enter the cross reference, as you want it to appear.
  6. Click on Mark.
  7. 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 (12816) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Cross-Referencing Index Entries.

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

Stubborn Foreign Languages

Word is a program designed to work in and with multiple languages. This can lead to some problems, however, for those ...

Discover More

Doubling Your Money

Make your money last longer by using your head when printing labels. Here's a great example of how you can double the ...

Discover More

Reformatting a Document with Messed-Up Styles

If there are lots of hands that touch a document, there are lots of ways those hands can mess up the document. You may be ...

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)

Using Subentries in an AutoMark File

If you have a large document and need to create a complicated index, an AutoMark file can make your life much easier. ...

Discover More

Indexing Based on a Range of Letters

Word provides many options for creating indexes. One option allows you to specify that the index contain only entries ...

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
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.

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}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) 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 7 - 7?

2020-10-24 14:30:37

Liliana Hartwig

Hello, I would like to create a list of acronyms below the TOC by marking the text of my document and then inserting this as an "index"? below the TOC; however, I don't want to show in the body of my document what was marked, as this will be disruptive to the reader, nor I want this Index to have page numbers or be formatted in a column.

Don't want to show this in the body of my document: { XE "Longhole (LH)" \i }

Would like the list to look as follows (Full name followed by a dot leader TAB then the acronym):

American wire gauge............................. AWG
Amperes................................................. A
Canadian dollars................................... C$
Centimetre............................................ cm
Cubic feet per minute........................... cfm

What would be the best way of doing this?


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.

Videos
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.