Microsoft Word Navigation Pane 101
Have you ever heard of Word’s Navigation Pane? It’s a sidebar you can view on the left of your document that allows you to move more quickly through your Word document. Use it to browse your document by Headings, Thumbnails, and Searching for words. To turn it on using a PC, go to the VIEW Tab and put a CHECK in front of NAVIGATION PANE. On a Mac, go to the VIEW menu and highlight SIDEBAR, then select any of the choices there.
Browse by Headings
To browse by Headings, you need to format your sections using the Styles gallery, using the Heading 1, Heading 2, and Heading 3 styles. Once you’ve applied this organizational formatting, the FIRST VIEW in the Navigation Pane becomes a list of your sections and subsections.
A tiny triangle appears before each heading level that has subsections. Click on the TRIANGLE to expand and collapse the list. Second-level headings are slightly indented.
Click on the HEADINGS to jump to that section. On a PC, use the UP AND DOWN arrows to skip from section to section. Click and drag the SECTION BARS to rearrange the document. Much faster than cutting and pasting!
The PC version of Word also allows you to instantly change between Heading 1, 2, or 3 styles, and change the section’s indent. Right-click on a SECTION and choose PROMOTE or DEMOTE.
Navigate by Thumbnail
Thumbnails show tiny previews of each page so that you can jump around by appearance.
On a PC, click on the SECOND Tab to see a picture of each page (on a Mac, it’s the FIRST button).
Click on the PREVIEWS to move from page to page.
Locate Using Search in the Navigation Pane
Click on the THIRD Tab for a SEARCH BOX. On a Mac, it’s the FOURTH button.
When you type in A WORD OR A PHRASE, all occurrences become highlighted in yellow, and are listed in the Navigation Pane along with their context.
Click on EACH MATCH or use the UP AND DOWN ARROWS to visit each one.
On a Mac, you can also use this pane as a Find and Replace tool!
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