View & edit an outline

You can structure your Google Doc with the “document outline” feature. The outline detects and lists headings from your text to help organize your document.

Open a document outline

  1. Open a document in Google Docs.
  2. To open the outline, click Viewand thenShow document outline. The outline opens on the left.

Close a document outline

  1. To temporarily close the document outline: At the left, next to "Outline," click Close document outline Back.
  2. To completely hide the document outline: At the top, click View And then Show document outline. 

Note: If there's a checkmark next to "Show document outline," the document outline icon Docs outline icon will still be visible in the top left of your document. 

Add headings to an outline

Google Docs will automatically add headings to the outline, but you can also add them manually.

  1. Open a document in Google Docs.
  2. Select text for an outline heading.
  3. At the top, click Normal text.
  4. Click a heading style. The heading will be added to the outline.

Note: Subtitles will not appear in the outline.

Learn how to re-add a removed heading to your document outline.

Remove headings from an outline

  1. Open a document in Google Docs.
  2. On the document outline, point to the heading you want to remove.
  3. On the right of the heading, Click Remove from outlineRemove from outline .

Re-add a heading to an outline

  1. Select the removed heading text.
  2. Right-click on the selection.
  3. Click Add to document outline.

Use an outline to move around in a document

  1. Open a document in Google Docs.
  2. Click Viewand thenShow document outline. The outline opens on the left.
  3. Click the heading you want to go to in the document. You’ll move to that place in the document.

Add section breaks & move margins

You can add breaks between sections and adjust the margins of your document to organize your content.

Add section & page breaks

  1. Open a  Google Doc.
  2. Select a section of your content.
  3. At the top, click Insert and then Break.
  4. Choose a break type.
    • To start on a new page, click Page break.
    • To start a new section on the same page, click Section break (continuous).

Show or hide section breaks

By default, section breaks are hidden when you open a document. To show lines where you’ve added section breaks:

  1. Open your doc.
  2. At the top, click View and then Show section breaks.

Notes:

  • To hide the section break again, click Show section breaks.
  • When you set section break lines to be visible or hidden, that setting will be the same for all documents you open until you change it.

Move section margins

  1. Open a document in Google Docs.
  2. Select a section of your text, graphics, or images.
  3. At the top, drag the triangle to where you want the margin to be.

Tip: If you have multiple sections, click Fileand thenPage Setup. At the top, choose which sections to change. Set your margins, and click Ok.

Show or hide rulers

You can use horizontal and vertical rulers to help you align text, graphics, or tables in your document.  The rulers will automatically show when you open a document. To hide the rulers:

  • At the top of the document, click View.
  • Click Show ruler.

Note: To show the ruler again, click Show ruler.