The Master Document View

Word 365 2016 2013 2010 2007
Word master document enables you to: cross-reference items among several documents; create indexes, tables of contents, and lists that span several documents; easily assign consistent page numbering, headers, and other formatting across multiple documents; etc.
A book is ideally suited to the master document feature. Each chapter can be a subdocument, and the elements common to the entire book can be contained in the master document itself.

A master document contains two things: normal document stuff-text and graphics, tables and text boxes, and so on-and links to other documents. Those links can be used to pull in the information from the documents to which the master documented is linked.

The Master Document buttons (you can see these buttons in Outline view that you can choose in View -> Outline):

Buttons in Word 2003

Switch   Master Document View - Switches between Master Document and Outline views, and expands and contracts the toolbar.

Expand/Collapse   Expand/Collapse Subdocument - Expands the master document, by pulling in data from the subdocuments, or collapses the document, by removing the information and displaying the links to the subdocuments.

Create   Create Subdocument - Turns selected headings and text into subdocuments, automatically saving a new document and creating a link from the master document to the subdocument.

Remove   Remove Subdocument - Pulls the data from the subdocument into the master document and breaks the link to the subdocument - but it doesn't actually delete the subdocument file.

Insert   Insert Subdocument - Enables you to create a link to use an existing file as a subdocument.

Merge   Merge Subdocument - Combines multiple subdocuments into one subdocument.

Split   Split Subdocument - Divides one subdocument into two subdocuments.

Lock   Lock Document - Toggles the entire document or selected subdocuments to a locked or an unlocked state. Note that this provides only cursory protection, however. Any user can unlock the subdocument simply by choosing the Lock Document button again.

There are three main methods of building a Master Document:

  • Begin a new document in Master Document view. Create an outline for your master document, and then use those headings to break the outline into separate subdocuments.
  • Break an existing document into subdocuments.
  • Combine existing documents into a master document by inserting them as subdocuments. Any existing Word document can be treated as a subdocument.

Starting with an Existing Document

   1.   Open the document that you want to use as your master document.

   2.   Change to Outline view by choosing View -> Outline.

   3.   Assign a heading style to each heading (for example, use Heading 1 for the title and Heading 2 for each subdocument). To do this, use the buttons on the Outlining toolbar:

  • Click Promote Promote (or Alt+Shift+left arrow) to increase the heading level.
  • Click Demote Demote (or Alt+Shift+right arrow) to decrease the heading level.

   4.   As necessary, for any content that is not a heading, select the content and click Demote to Body Text Demote to Body Text.

How to create subdocuments from existing document or how to insert subdocuments to the master document, see Creating subdocuments and Importing data for subdocuments.

How to rename subdocuments or split subdocuments, see Modifying subdocuments.


For easy navigation, keep the following keystrokes in mind:

Alt+Shift+Left/Right arrow - Demote or promote the current paragraph and all collapsed subheadings.

Alt+Shift+Up/Down arrow - Swap the current paragraph with previous/next paragraph, moving all collapsed subheadings with it.

Alt+Shift+1 through 9 - Display levels 1 through 9 (for example, Alt+Shift+3 displays levels 1 through 3, Alt+Shift+6 displays levels 1 through 6, and so on).

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Creating subdocuments

Creating subdocuments

Every master document consists of a normal document stuff and links to other documents. Those links can be used to pull in the information from the documents to which the master documented is linked.
Modifying subdocuments

Modifying subdocuments

You can modify subdocuments, but with features. This tip contains some of these features. You can modify subdocuments using the same tools that you have used to create a master document and subdocuments. This tip describes how to use those tools to modify subdocuments. How to create a master document, see The Master Document View, and Creating subdocuments for information about creating subdocuments.
Accessing document areas using the Document Map

Accessing document areas using the Document Map

You can navigate through open documents in a number of ways. One way to navigate through a document is to use the Document Map feature. The Document Map enables you to quickly jump to specific sections in your document in any view; it also serves as a quick reminder of your current location within the open document.

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