Faster Alternatives to Bookmark in Word

Q. When I’m working in a long Word document and have to jump back and forth between several locations I generally use the Bookmark function. But sometimes, because it requires several keystrokes, it’s not worth the effort. Is there any other way to bookmark places in a document without having to go through the rigmarole of creating a bookmark and then deleting it when I’m through with it?

The Bookmark icon is in the toolbar under Insert . If it’s not there, go to Tools, Customize and under the Commands tab, find Bookmark in the Insert category and drag it up to your toolbar.

Now if you want to bookmark a place in a document, engage it and enter a code. To demonstrate for the screenshot at left, I typed in my initials—sz. Then click on Add .

You can add many bookmarks, and as you see in the screen, Word will sort them by location or by alpha name. If you do not put a check next to Hidden bookmarks, Word will place a large gray “I” at the bookmarked location, like this one below.

The location marker will not print. To get rid of a bookmark, just click on Bookmark and then on Delete.

So, as you can see, it does take a few steps. But if all you want to do is bookmark two or three places, consider either of these methods:

Press Shift+F5 and Word will take you back to the last three places you’ve been.

Place your cursor on a scroll bar and then press the space bar. That will take you back to the last location you edited.