How to Manage Bookmarks in Microsoft Word

Key Takeaways

• A bookmark saves you the stress of browsing pages of text by taking you directly to the specific item you need on the document.
• You may use the Go-to window to navigate all bookmarks on your Word document.

How to Insert a Bookmark into Microsoft Word

Step 1: Launch the Word document to which you want to add the bookmarks.

Step 2: Select the location, text, or picture to insert the bookmark.

Step 3: On the Ribbon, click on the Insert tab, and within the Links group, click on Bookmark to launch a dialog box.

Step 4: Under the Bookmark name section, input a name and click on Add to close the window.

The simple process above creates a bookmark in your document. You can repeat the process several times to add different bookmarks to the document. Other bookmark features to consider when creating one include:

• The Bookmark name should always begin with a letter.
• Bookmark names can contain underscores and numbers.
• Your Bookmark name cannot contain dashes, slashes, spaces, or other special characters.

If your Bookmarks are not displayed with the grey-colored square bracket, navigate to File > Options > Advanced, and under the Show document content section, tick Show bookmarks.

How to Insert Links into a Bookmark on Microsoft Word

Bookmarks in Microsoft Word also work with hyperlinks. You can click on them to navigate to a specific part of the document.

Step 1: Launch the Microsoft Word document with an existing bookmark or create one using the steps above.

Step 2: Select the text to which you want to add the link to your bookmark.

Step 3: Right-click on the selected item and click on Link. Alternatively, you can press the CTRL + K keys simultaneously on your keyboard.

Step 4: On the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, navigate to the Link to on the left pane and select Place in This Document. Select the bookmark’s name you want to link inside the labeled box and select a place in this document.

Step 5: Click on OK.

Alternatively, you can add a screen tip to the bookmark that appears once your mouse pointer hovers over the link. To do this, click on ScreenTip > enter the ScreenTip text > click OK.

You can Ctrl + click the link to get directly to your bookmark.

How to Access Bookmarks in Microsoft Word

Now, you may access your Microsoft Word bookmarks using the below steps.

Step 1: Click the Insert menu > Bookmarks in the Links group.

Step 2: Now, you may see all bookmarks in the Bookmark dialog.

Alternatively, follow the below steps to go to a certain bookmark:

Step 1: Press Ctrl + G to open the Go to dialog.

Step 2: Select Bookmark from the Go to What options > select the bookmark you need from the drop-down menu on the right > click on Go to.

How to Delete a Bookmark in Microsoft Word

If you decide that a bookmark is no longer necessary in your Microsoft Word document, here’s how to delete it:

Step 1: Launch the Word document with the bookmark.

Step 2: Click the Insert menu > click Bookmarks in the Links group.

Step 3: Select the bookmark you must delete and click Delete.

Note: Microsoft Word will not show a confirmation message to warn about the deletion. Once you press the delete button, the bookmark gets deleted automatically.

Repeat the process to delete more than one bookmark. It is important to note that the link to a bookmark remains even after deleting it. If you would like to delete the link, here’s what you should do:

Step 1: Place your cursor on the anchor text and then right-click.

Step 2: Scroll through the menu options and select Remove Hyperlink.

After this, remove the link to the bookmark automatically. Note that you should do this for every bookmark you delete from your document.