How to Use Outline View in Microsoft Word (PC & Mac)

This tutorial shows how to use Outline View in Microsoft Word. Outline View can help you organize new or existing documents, including moving whole sections without cutting and pasting.

First, we will open Outline View. Next, we will enter and change the outline levels. Then, we will rearrange the outline and customize the view.

Lastly, the Pro Tip at the end showing how to add font formatting to your outlines.

Table of Contents:

• How to Open Outline View
• How to Enter and Change Outline Levels
• How to Rearrange Outlines
• How to Customize the View
• Pro Tip: How to Add Font Formatting to Outlines

The images below are from Word for Microsoft 365. These steps also apply to Word for Microsoft 365 for Mac (a.k.a., Word for Mac), Word 2024, Word 2021, Word 2019, and Word 2016. These steps don’t apply to Word for the web.

How to Open Outline View

You can use Outline View to create new outlines (as shown here) or use it to organize existing documents arranged with Word’s built-in heading levels.

1. Select the View tab.
2. Select Outline in the Views group.

How to Enter and Change Outline Levels

1. Select the level you want to create from the Outline Level menu.

Important Note: Each outline level will convert to the corresponding heading level in the document.

2. Type the first text item into the outline.

How to Change Levels

3. Press the Enter key (PC) or Return key (Mac), select a new level from the Outline Level menu (see figure 2), and then continue to type your text.

Pro Tip: Select Body Text in the Outline Level menu to insert regular text.

4. (Alternative) Press the Tab key on your keyboard to move to a lower outline level (e.g., move from Level 1 down to Level 2). Press Shift + Tab to move to a higher level.

5. 5. (Alternative) Use the Promotion and Demotion arrows on either side of the Outline Level menu to move up or down the levels.

5. To move an existing level, click inside the item to select it and then use any of the options shown above.

How to Rearrange Outlines

In Outline View, you can move levels with their subordinate levels or move each level independently of its subordinates.

How to Move Levels with Subordinates

1. Hover your pointer over the plus or minus sign next to the item until your pointer becomes a four-headed arrow.
2. Drag the selection up or down to a new location or use the Move Up or Move Down arrows to move the whole selection.

How to Move Levels without Subordinates

1. Click inside the text you want to move. (Don’t select the plus or minus sign next to the text.)
2. Use the Move Up or Move Down arrows to move the whole selection (see figure 4).

How to Customize the View

1. Select the plus or minus sign next to a level and then use the Expand and Collapse buttons to open or close the level.
2. Use the Show Level menu to show the lowest level you want to see. For example, if you select Level 3, you will see levels 1 through 3, but not levels 4 or below.
3. Select or deselect Show Text Formatting to see formatting (such as heading fonts, boldness, and italics) in the outline.
4. Select or deselect Show First Line Only to see only the first line of each item. Multi-line items will be represented by an ellipsis at the end of the line.

5. To view the document in regular Print Layout view, select the Close Outline View button.

Related Resources

How to Convert a Microsoft Word Outline into PowerPoint Slides

How to Convert a Microsoft Word Outline into PowerPoint Slides on Mac

How to Create and Update a Table of Contents in Microsoft Word