About ways to view a Word document

Work in print layout view (Print Layout view: A view of a document or other object as it will appear when you print it. For example, items such as headers, footnotes, columns, and text boxes appear in their actual positions.) to see how text, graphics, and other elements will be positioned on the printed page.

This view is useful for editing headers and footers, for adjusting margins, and for working with columns and drawing objects. If you'd like to type and edit text in this view, you can save screen space by hiding white space at the top and bottom of the page.

To switch to print layout view, click Print Layout on the View menu.

Work in Web layout view (Web Layout view: A view of a document as it will appear in a Web browser. For example, the document appears as one long page (without page breaks) and text and tables wrap to fit in the window.) when you are creating a Web page or a document that is viewed on the screen.

In Web layout view, backgrounds are visible, text is wrapped to fit the window, and graphics are positioned just as they are in a Web browser.

To switch to Web layout view, click Web Layout on the View menu.

Work in normal view (normal view: A view that shows text formatting and a simplified page layout. Normal view is convenient for most editing and formatting tasks.) for typing, editing, and formatting text. Normal view shows text formatting but simplifies the layout of the page so that you can type and edit quickly.

In normal view, page boundaries, headers and footers (header and footer: A header, which can consist of text or graphics, appears at the top of every page in a section. A footer appears at the bottom of every page. Headers and footers often contain page numbers, chapter titles, dates, and author names.), backgrounds, drawing objects (drawing object: Any graphic you draw or insert, which can be changed and enhanced. Drawing objects include AutoShapes, curves, lines, and WordArt.), and pictures (picture: A file (such as a metafile) that you can ungroup and manipulate as two or more objects, or a file that stays as a single object (such as bitmaps).) that do not have the In line with text wrapping style do not appear.

To switch to normal view, click Normal on the View menu.

Work in outline view (outline view: A view that shows the headings of a document indented to represent their level in the document's structure. You can also use outline view to work with master documents.) to look at the structure of a document and to move, copy, and reorganize text by dragging headings.

In outline view, you can collapse a document to see only the main headings, or you can expand it to see all headings and even body text.

Outline view also makes it easy to work with master documents (master document: A "container" for a set of separate files (or subdocuments). You can use a master document to set up and manage a multipart document, such as a book with several chapters.). A master document makes it easier to organize and maintain a long document, such as a multipart report or a book with chapters. In outline view, page boundaries, headers and footers, graphics, and backgrounds do not appear.

To switch to outline view, click Outline on the View menu.

To read a document with a minimum of eye strain and with tools optimized for reading, use reading layout view (reading layout view: A view that is designed for reading documents on a computer screen. The document is resized to fit the screen and most toolbars are removed, but commands are available for navigating, commenting, and looking up words.).

Reading layout view is designed to make reading documents on the screen more comfortable. In this mode, Word removes distracting screen elements, such as extraneous toolbars. Word also uses your computer's screen resolution settings to size the document for optimum readability.

In reading layout view, you can use the Document Map (Document Map: A vertical pane along the left edge of the document window that displays an outline of the document's headings. You can use the Document Map to quickly move through a document and to keep track of your location in it.) or thumbnails to jump to different sections of the document, and you can use a task pane for reading-related activities, such as looking up or translating a word. If you want to edit the document, click where you want to make changes, and edit the document normally.

Reading layout view does not display the document the way the document is formatted for printing. Text may appear larger than expected, and the page breaks do not necessarily correspond to breaks between printed pages.

To switch to reading layout view, click Read on the Standard toolbar or press ALT+R.

To turn off reading layout view, click Close on the Reading Layout toolbar or press ALT+C.

Thumbnails are small renderings of each page in your document, displayed in a separate pane (pane: A portion of the document window bounded by and separated from other portions by vertical or horizontal bars.). Thumbnails give you a visual impression of the content of each page. You can click a thumbnail image to jump directly to a page.

Thumbnails pane

Document

Thumbnails are available in normal view (normal view: A view that shows text formatting and a simplified page layout. Normal view is convenient for most editing and formatting tasks.), print layout view (Print Layout view: A view of a document or other object as it will appear when you print it. For example, items such as headers, footnotes, columns, and text boxes appear in their actual positions.), outline view (outline view: A view that shows the headings of a document indented to represent their level in the document's structure. You can also use outline view to work with master documents.), and reading layout view (reading layout view: A view that is designed for reading documents on a computer screen. The document is resized to fit the screen and most toolbars are removed, but commands are available for navigating, commenting, and looking up words.). They are not available in Web layout view (Web Layout view: A view of a document as it will appear in a Web browser. For example, the document appears as one long page (without page breaks) and text and tables wrap to fit in the window.) or in conjunction with the Document Map (Document Map: A vertical pane along the left edge of the document window that displays an outline of the document's headings. You can use the Document Map to quickly move through a document and to keep track of your location in it.).

The Document Map (Document Map: A vertical pane along the left edge of the document window that displays an outline of the document's headings. You can use the Document Map to quickly move through a document and to keep track of your location in it.) is a separate pane (pane: A portion of the document window bounded by and separated from other portions by vertical or horizontal bars.) that displays a list of headings in the document. Use the Document Map to quickly navigate through the document and keep track of your location in it.

Document Map pane

Document

When you click a heading in the Document Map, Word jumps to the corresponding heading in the document, displays it at the top of the window, and highlights the heading in the Document Map. You can show or hide the Document Map at any time.

To switch to the Document Map, click Document Map on the View menu.

In Web page preview (Web page preview: Displays the Web page in a Web browser.), you can see how your document will look in a Web browser. If your Web browser is not already running, Word starts it automatically. You can return to your document in Word at any time.

To switch to Web page preview, click Web Page Preview on the File menu.

In print preview (print preview: A view of a document as it will appear when you print it.), you can display multiple pages of a document in a reduced size.

In this view, you can see page breaks (page break: The point at which one page ends and another begins. Microsoft Word inserts an "automatic" (or soft) page break for you, or you can force a page break at a specific location by inserting a "manual" (or hard) page break.) and watermarks (watermark: Any graphic or text, such as "Confidential," that when printed appears either on top of or behind existing document text.), and you can make editing or formatting changes before you print the document.

To switch to print preview, click Print Preview on the File menu.