How to Use Bookmarks in Google Documents

Long documents?  No problem!

Learn how to organize your lengthy Google Documents with the Bookmarking tool!

Searching through long documents to find just the right part sounds exciting.  Scrolling through pages and pages of (useful, yes) information or long essays seems like an effective use of time... right?  Let’s be serious:  “Ain’t nobody got time for that!”  Luckily, Google is in agreement when it comes to reading and writing long documents.  One very useful feature of Google Documents is the Bookmarking tool.  This tool is like a shortcut to a specific place in a document.  Bookmarks can be very useful when you want to jump directly from one part of the document to another.  Bookmarks are also perfect for creating a table of contents inside of a document.  Lastly, the Bookmarking tool is such an easy way to organize long documents, so readers can navigate through documents without having to scroll up and down multiple times.  Indeed, Google has made our lives easier once again!  Let’s learn how to insert Bookmarks in a Google Document! 

Before you get started, it will be important for you to have a few key materials:  a computer with internet access, a Google account, and open a document with text already in the document.  This could be an essay, a report, a list, a short story you are writing, or any other such document.  And if you are not already familiar with Google Docs, you should take a minute to locate the “Insert” tab and the “Link” tool, located on the top of your text document.  

When you’re ready to insert a bookmark, the first thing you’ll want to do is highlight the text, or area of the document that will be directly linked.  You may also just place your cursor exactly where you’d like the bookmark to be placed.
  

Next, use the toolbar at the top of the screen to find the “Insert” tab.  Click on “Insert” and choose “Bookmark” from the drop-down list.  Select “Bookmark” by clicking.  Once you have clicked “Bookmark,” a small blue icon should appear next to the words you highlighted, or where your mouse cursor was.  This is the actual bookmark, or placeholder, in your document.  

Unfortunately, the bookmark doesn’t do any good if it’s not linked to a certain area of your document.  In order to make your bookmark useful, scroll back up to the top of your document, or to whatever piece of text you’d like associated with the bookmark, and highlight the words.  After that, find the “Link” icon in the toolbar and click it.  The “Edit Link” box should appear.  Inside of this box, look for the “Bookmark” choice, and again click on this option.  Following this, choose the bookmark you created and select it.   

If the previous steps have been done correctly, you should see a clickable link appear that will take you directly to the part of your document where the bookmark is located.  The bookmark link should look like the picture below. 

     One important thing to keep in mind:  as you add more bookmarks in your document, it will be necessary for you to check carefully which bookmark you are linking to.  It is very easy to select an incorrect bookmark when there are many listed.  A simple way to avoid error is to look closely at the title of each bookmark.  You can also test out the bookmark link after you’ve selected it, as a double-checking measure. 

     Finally, you can continue to add as many bookmarks as you’d like.  For extremely long documents, bookmarks can make finding certain pages, topics, or chapters simpler and less time consuming.  Additionally, the Bookmarking tool helps organize your writing so that it appears sleek, sophisticated, and expertly produced.  Google Documents Bookmarks are the way to go when you want to save your readers (and yourself!) some time!

If you found these directions to be confusing, or not helpful enough, take a few minutes to watch the video tutorial below.

Useful Resources:

Google Drive Directions:  Using bookmarks in a document

Free Technology for Teachers:  Google Tutorials