Jan 23, 2017

In my previous "Working with Styles" blog, we explored the creation of a new Master Document and setting a collection of subdocument links. This allows members involved in the editing can work on these linked subdocuments simultaneously to ensure levels of efficiency.

In today’s blog, we will explore creating a Master Document where we will insert a collection of already created subdocuments that will eventually form the final document.

Create a new document and select View Ribbon to return to the Outline View found in the left of the Views group.

In the Outline View ribbon select Show Documents in the Master Document group.

In the Master Document group select Insertm and in the Insert Subdocument window locate the subdocuments in which case we will insert a Table of Contents document that is just a blank page with only the heading. Return to the Insert Subdocuments window to locate more subdocuments where we will insert three separate subdocument chapters to form this Master Document. In the Outline ribbon Master Document group, you can select Expand Subdocuments to view the content and to edit the content while in the Outline view.

T expandable and retractable view of the subdocuments allows the editor to edit the content, and saving Master Document file updates the linked subdocuments. In the retracted view, the editor can also select the hyperlink of the subdocuments by holding the Control key and Word will open the subdocument for further editing. There is also a box icon on the top left corner of each subdocument section and when double clicked will open the subdocument file.

The various ways you can edit the subdocuments of a Master Document file ensures a highly efficient way of editing a big document. After exploring two methods of creating a Master Document, in our next blog we will create a Table of Contents within the Outline view of a Master Document.

For more information, take a look at New Horizons' Microsoft Word courses.