How to use the document outline in Google Docs
If you're using Google Docs as your go-to writing app, there's no better way to organize your content than with the Document Structure tool. This handy feature helps you structure and navigate your document by automatically creating an outline using your document headers.
In this section:
Open the document structure in Google Docs
Go to Google Docs, sign in to your account, and open your document. You can view the document outline with just two clicks.
Click View> Show Document Outline from the menu to put a check mark next to it.
You will then see the outline display on the left side of your document.
Add headers to the document outline
If the document outline is blank when you open it, it's because you don't have text formatted as titles or headings in your document.
After you apply a title, subtitle, or any other level of heading to the text in your document, the structure of the document automatically updates. It will display in an overview you're used to, with each level below indented.
To apply a title or header, select the text, then click Format> Paragraph Styles from the menu or use the "Styles" drop-down list on the toolbar.
Select the title or heading you want to use, then you will see your text change. The document outline will now include it.
If you plan to use various heading levels, consider copying the formatting for faster document creation.
As you progress through your document and apply headings, the document structure will automatically update for you. And if you rearrange, remove, or insert headers, the outline will adjust immediately.
Remove headers from the document structure
There may be a situation where you do not want a specific title to appear in the structure of the document. Fortunately, you don't have to delete it from your document or change its formatting.
Just click on the "X" to the right of the header you want to remove in the document structure.
Since the text always remains in your document, you can easily add it back to the document structure if you wish. Select the text in the document, right-click and choose "Add to Document Outline" from the menu.
Use the document outline for navigation
The document outline in Google Docs isn't just for presentation, it's interactive. If you click on a title or heading, you will be taken directly to that place in your document. This is great when working with long reports because it works like a table of contents in Google Docs.
Additionally, the document structure can help you track where you are in your file. When your cursor is under a heading in your document, that heading appears in a blue font preceded by a dash in the outline. This is useful when you are working on a document that has a lot of content or images between headings.
Close or hide the outline of the document
If you prefer a more distraction-free writing environment, or if you only need the document outline occasionally, you can close it completely or just hide it temporarily.
To close the document outline, click View> Show Document Outline from the menu to uncheck it. It will then disappear from the screen. But if you choose to show it again, it will still be automatically populated with your headers, assuming you keep the formatting.
To temporarily hide the outline of the document, click the arrow in the upper left corner of the outline itself. You'll see it disappear from the screen and be replaced with a small outline icon instead. Just click the Show Document Outline icon to review it.
If you like to use outlines to structure your documents, whether it's corporate reports, school journals, or even books, you'll love Google Docs' Document Outline feature. It gives you a nice overview of your document, helps you organize your content, and lets you navigate quickly.
