Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Jumping to a Relative Section.

Jumping to a Relative Section

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 18, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365

In other issues of WordTips you learn how you can use the Go To function to jump to a specific section in your document. If you have quite a few sections in your document, you may find this tip helpful. You can also use the Go To function to jump to a section relative to the current section. This is done in this manner:

Press F5. Word displays the Go To tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.
Choose Section in the left side of the dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Go To tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.

In the Enter Section Number box, enter a plus or minus sign and how many section numbers you want to jump. Plus is forward; minus is backward. For instance, you could jump back three sections by entering -3.
Click on the Go To button. (The Next button changes to the Go To button after step 3.)

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (9168) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Jumping to a Relative Section.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Making Spell Check Ignore Characters

The rules of professional editing often require that editorial changes in a quote be noted with brackets. These brackets, ...

Discover More

Finding Related Words

One part of the grammar tools provided with Word is a thesaurus that helps you find all sorts of word variations. One ...

Discover More

Fields in Footnotes Won't Update Automatically

Fields can be very helpful for including dynamic information in your documents, such as cross-references. It can be ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Multiple Taskbar Icons for Documents

If you like to see your open documents in multiple icons on the Taskbar, you may wonder how to make that happen. This is ...

Discover More

Understanding Default Insert Date Formatting

Insert a date into Word, and you are presented with a variety of formats you can choose from for that date. The default ...

Discover More

Calculating Average Word Length

Word keeps track of many statistics about your documents. The problem, it seems, is getting exactly the statistics you ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 8 - 5?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.