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: Creating New Windows.

Creating New Windows

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 8, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021


If you want to work on two different parts of the same document at the same time, there are a couple of different ways you can do so in Word. One way is to open a second window. You do this by simply displaying the View tab of the ribbon and clicking New Window. Word opens a new window. You can then use each window to display and edit different parts of the same document.

Notice that each new window you create has not only the document name in the title bar, but also a number that indicates the actual window number. Thus, you could have MyDoc:1 and MyDoc:2. These are the same way that the window names appear in the Window menu.

Each window created in this way just provides a different way to look at the exact same document. This means that any change you make in one window is automatically and immediately made in the other window as well.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (12935) 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: Creating New Windows.

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. ...

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