Understanding Outlining in Word

Word provides many tools that you can use to help you develop your writing. One tool which many people find particularly helpful is outlining. The outlining features in Word are basically an implementation of how you learned to create outlines in school. First, you develop your major ideas, which become the headings in your outline. As you add more detail, your outline takes form with different levels of headings.

The headings in an outline are, in reality, the headings you use in your document. Thus, the outline becomes a condensed version of your document, showing only your headings. You can switch between your regular editing views and your outline by simply clicking your mouse on the Outline View icon in the lower-left corner of the screen (pre-Word 2007) or at the lower-right corner of the screen (Word 2007).

To create an outline from scratch, follow these steps:

1. Create a new document.
2. Make sure Outline view has been selected. The Outline toolbar should appear on your screen (pre-Word 2007) or the Outlining tab of the ribbon should be selected (Word 2007).
3. Start typing your document. The paragraphs you enter will be a first-level head (formatted with the Heading 1 style).
4. Adjust the heading levels of your paragraphs by clicking the left and right arrow keys on the Outline toolbar or on the Outlining tab of the ribbon.