Understanding Outlining

Word provides many tools that you can use to help you develop your writing. One tool which many people find particularly helpful is outlining. The outlining features in Word are basically an implementation of how you learned to create outlines in school. First, you develop your major ideas, which become the headings in your outline. As you add more detail, your outline takes form with different levels of headings.

The headings in an outline are, in reality, the headings you use in your document. Thus, the outline becomes a condensed version of your document, showing only your headings. You can switch between your regular editing views and your outline by simply clicking the Outline icon near the right side of the status bar.

To create an outline from scratch, follow these steps:

1. Create a new document.
2. Make sure Outline view has been selected. The Outlining tab of the ribbon should be selected.
3. Start typing your document. The paragraphs you enter will be a first-level head (formatted with the Heading 1 style).
4. Adjust the heading levels of your paragraphs by clicking the left and right arrow keys on the Outlining tab of the ribbon.