How to Add an Outline to a Google Doc on PC or Mac

Last Updated: March 28, 2019 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how to add an outline to a Google Docs file. Outlines allow you to easily navigate longer documents by clicking headings in a list.

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:
Creating an Outline

1
Go to https://docs.google.com in a web browser. If you’re not already signed in to your Google account, enter your login information to do so now.
2
Click the document you want to edit. This opens the contents of the document.
- To create a new document, click the blank page with a + symbol at the top of the screen.
3
Click the Tools menu. It’s at the top of the screen.
4
Click Document outline. A new column called “Outline” will open to the left of your document. This is where the headings will appear once created.
5
Highlight text you want to make a heading. Headings are used to title sections of the document.^{[1]
X
Research source}
6
Click Normal text drop-down menu. It’s in the toolbar at the top of Google Docs. A list of other font styles will appear.
7
Select a heading style. The suggested options for headings are Heading 1, Heading 2, and Heading 3. Once you click your preferred heading style, the heading will be added to the outline column.
- Repeat this step for every heading you want to appear in the outline.
- To remove a heading, hover your mouse cursor over it in the outline, then click the X that appears.

Part 2

Part 2 of 2:
Using an Outline

1
Go to https://docs.google.com. in a web browser. If you’re not already signed in to your Google account, enter your login information to do so now.
2
Click a document that contains an outline. The contents of the document will appear. Don’t worry when you don’t see the outline—you’ll need to enable it first.
3
Click the Tools menu. It’s at the top of the screen.
4
Click Document outline. A new column called “Outline” will appear to the left of the document. This column contains a list of clickable links to certain places in the document.
5
Click a link in the Outline column. The document will scroll to that section.^{[2]
X
Research source}
6
Click X on the Outline column to close the outline.