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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →To make a section collapsible in Word, apply a built-in heading style—such as Heading 1 or Heading 2—to its title. In the desktop app, use the small triangle beside that heading to hide or show the text and lower-level headings beneath it. The feature follows the document’s outline structure, so ordinary bold text alone is not enough.
Create a collapsible section
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Select the line you want to use as the section heading.
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Go to Home and choose a built-in heading style from the Styles gallery, such as Heading 1 or Heading 2. Microsoft describes applying a heading style as the simplest way to add a heading. You can customize a heading style’s appearance and reuse the customized style. See Microsoft’s instructions for adding a heading in Word.
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Place the section’s body text and any subordinate headings below the heading. Word uses outline levels: a heading controls the content and lower-level headings that follow it, up to the next heading at the same or higher level.
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Move the pointer over the heading and select the small triangle that appears to collapse its content. Select the triangle again to expand it. On a touch device, tap the heading to reveal the triangle first.
Collapse or expand every heading
Right-click a heading, choose Expand/Collapse, then select Collapse All Headings or Expand All Headings. These commands change the view of the document; they do not remove the hidden text. Microsoft explains that the feature is based on each paragraph’s outline level in its guide to collapsing or expanding document content.
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Make a heading start collapsed
Click in the heading you want to open in a collapsed state, then set its paragraph option:
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With the cursor in the heading, go to Home.
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In the Paragraph group, open the Paragraph dialog using its dialog launcher.
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Select Collapsed by default, then select OK.
Headings are expanded when a document is reopened by default. This setting is separate from temporarily collapsing a heading with its triangle.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What happens in Word for the web and on Mac?
Word for the web
Word for the web does not provide the collapse-and-expand controls. Sections collapsed in the desktop app appear expanded when viewed on the web. To use the controls, select Open in Word and work in the desktop application.
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Mac
Microsoft’s heading-style guidance covers Word for Mac, but its collapse-and-expand instructions do not spell out Mac-specific control steps. Menu labels and behavior may vary by version, so check the controls in your installed build rather than assuming they match Windows exactly.
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If headings are missing from the Navigation pane
In Word for Windows, the Navigation pane lists headings styled as headings in the document body. Microsoft says headings inside tables, text boxes, headers, and footers do not appear there; it also notes that behavior differs on Mac and the web. This concerns the Navigation pane, not whether body content can be collapsed. See Microsoft’s Navigation pane guidance.
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