What a bookmark does and why you might use one

A bookmark in Microsoft Word is a named location in your document that you can jump to when ready, even in a long file. You create it by selecting text or placing your cursor where you want to mark, then assigning it a name. Later, you can use the bookmark to navigate back to that spot, or to create a link that takes readers directly there.

Bookmarks are useful when you're working with documents longer than a few pages — a manual, a contract, a research paper with multiple sections. Instead of scrolling through 40 pages to find the section on "Warranty Terms", you click a link and land there. You can also use bookmarks to mark spots you plan to come back to while editing, or to organize a table of contents that actually works.

Bookmarks are stored inside the document file itself, so they travel with the file when you share it. If you send a Word document with bookmarks to someone else, the bookmarks stay there — though the other person has to know they exist to use them.

Key Takeaways

  • Create a bookmark by selecting text or clicking where you want to mark, then opening the Insert menu and choosing Bookmark.
  • Bookmark names cannot contain spaces, but you can use underscores or camelCase (like "Section_Two" or "WarrantyTerms").
  • Once you create a bookmark, you can link to it from anywhere in the document using Insert > Link > Place in This Document.
  • Bookmarks are invisible in the final document unless you turn on formatting marks, so readers won't see them unless you create a visible link to them.

How to create a bookmark in Word

Open your document and decide what you want to bookmark. You can bookmark a single word, a paragraph, a heading, or just a location (the cursor position). Select the text if you're marking a passage, or click once to place your cursor if you're marking a spot.

Go to the Insert tab at the top of the ribbon. Look for the Bookmark button — it usually appears in the Links group. Click it. A dialog box will open asking you to name the bookmark. Type a name that describes what's there: "Introduction", "Chapter_3", "Contact_Info", "Warranty_Terms". The name cannot have spaces, so use underscores or write it as one word or in camelCase (like "IntroductionSection").

Click Add. The bookmark is now created. You won't see anything change in your document — bookmarks are invisible by default. If you want to see where your bookmarks are, go to File > Options > Display and check the box for "Show bookmarks". They will appear as gray brackets around the bookmarked text.

How to navigate to a bookmark you've created

Once you have bookmarks in your document, you can jump to them without scrolling. Press Ctrl+G (on Windows) or Cmd+Option+G (on Mac) to open the Navigator or Go To dialog. In the dialog, look for your bookmark by name and click it, then click Go To or OK. Word will jump directly to that location.

On Mac, you can also use the View menu and select Navigation Pane, which shows a sidebar listing all your bookmarks. Click any bookmark name in the sidebar to jump there when ready.

How to create a clickable link to a bookmark

If you want readers to be able to click a link and jump to a bookmark, you need to create a hyperlink that points to it. Select the text you want to turn into a link — this might be "Go to Warranty Terms" or a page number in a table of contents.

Go to Insert > Link (or press Ctrl+K on Windows, Cmd+K on Mac). A dialog box opens. Look for an option called Place in This Document or Bookmark — the exact wording varies by Word version. Click it. A list of all your bookmarks will appear. Select the bookmark you want to link to, then click OK.

The text you selected is now a clickable link. When someone opens the document and clicks that link, Word jumps to the bookmarked location. This works in the Word process itself and in most PDF readers if you save the document as PDF.

Bookmark naming rules and what to avoid

Word has specific rules for bookmark names. The name must start with a letter, can contain numbers and underscores, but cannot contain spaces or special characters like hyphens, commas, or periods. "Section_2" works. "Section 2" does not. "Warranty-Terms" does not, but "Warranty_Terms" does.

Keep bookmark names reasonably short and descriptive. "Intro" is fine. "TheIntroductoryParagraphWhereWeExplainWhatThisDocumentIsAbout" is technically allowed but hard to find in a long list. Aim for names you'll recognize six months from now when you're editing the document again.

Bookmark names are case-sensitive in the background, but Word treats "Introduction" and "introduction" as the same bookmark. If you delete a bookmark and create a new one with the same name, any links pointing to the old bookmark will break.

What happens to bookmarks when you share or convert your document

Bookmarks stay in the document when you email it or share it through a cloud service like OneDrive or Google Drive. The other person can see and use them if they open the file in Word. However, if you convert the document to a different format, bookmarks may not survive the conversion.

If you save a Word document as a PDF, bookmarks usually convert to PDF bookmarks, which work similarly — they appear as a sidebar in most PDF readers and let you jump to sections. If you save as a .txt file or .docx converted to Google Docs, bookmarks are typically lost. Always check the converted file to confirm your bookmarks made the trip.

If someone else edits your document and deletes the bookmarked text, the bookmark disappears too. If they edit the text but leave it in place, the bookmark stays and still points to that location.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I see bookmarks in the final printed version of my document?

No. Bookmarks are invisible in printed output. They exist only in the digital file. If you want readers to know where a section is, you need to create a visible link (like "Click here to go to Warranty Terms") or a table of contents that points to the bookmarked sections.

What's the difference between a bookmark and a heading style?

Heading styles format text to look like a section title and can be used to build a table of contents automatically. Bookmarks mark a specific location but don't change how the text looks. You can bookmark a heading, but you don't have to. Bookmarks are more flexible if you want to mark something that isn't a heading.

If I delete a bookmark, do the links pointing to it break?

Yes. Any hyperlink that points to a deleted bookmark will show an error or do nothing when clicked. Before deleting a bookmark, search your document for links that point to it, or recreate the bookmark with the same name.

Can I bookmark content in a table or a text box?

Yes. You can bookmark text inside a table cell or a text box the same way you bookmark regular text. Select the content, go to Insert > Bookmark, and name it. The bookmark will work normally.

Do bookmarks work the same way in Word Online as in the desktop version?

Word Online has limited bookmark support. You can see and navigate to existing bookmarks, but creating new bookmarks is not available in the browser version. If you need to create bookmarks, use the desktop process (Word for Windows or Mac).