Microsoft Word is the gold standard when it comes to word processing applications, and is one of the popular ones in the entire world. It is used in schools, colleges, and by writers all around the globe, and for good reason.

It is so easy to use Word that pretty much anyone can work out how to use it within a short period of time, from experienced tech wizards, to your grandma who hates computers. 

While most of its features are pretty straightforward, there are some functions that can be a little more complicated to work out.

You may know how to write a 4-page essay, but you may not know how to rearrange the pages into a new arrangement.

If you are wondering how to perform the latter, look no further. In this guide, we will show you how to rearrange pages while using Microsoft Word.

So, without further ado, let’s jump straight into it.

Is it Possible To Rearrange Pages In Word?

Whether you’re writing your dissertation for college, or you’re mapping out your very own book, it is always important to make sure that your work has been organized correctly. 

This is why it can be so frustrating when you realize that you need to reorganize your entire layout at the last minute.

Maybe you need to switch around some chapters to fit the timeline of your novel, or you got mixed up while writing a section of an essay.

Your first thought may be that the easiest way to fix this is to copy-and-paste each section to arrange them into the correct order. This is possible, but it can take some time and effort to complete.

Thankfully, it is possible to rearrange pages while using Microsoft Word. 

This way, you don’t have to copy-and-paste any sections of your writing, and accidentally lose them along the way. You can simply click and drag headers to rearrange the entire documents, and it’ll only take moments to do.

Using The Navigation Pane

Below, we have put together a super simple step-by-step guide to rearranging pages on a Word document. 

Something to keep in mind, however, is that in order to rearrange pages, you will need to ensure that each of your titles have been formatted as headings.

If your titles are formatted as normal text, they will not get picked up as titles, and you will be unable to rearrange them. 

You can only rearrange pages with headings on them.

It is also worth noting that this method will only work if you are using Word 2010 or newer. If your current program is older than Word 2010, this particular method will not work as an option for you.

Now that we have gotten that out of the way, here is how you can rearrange your document pages in Microsoft Word.

1. The first thing you will need to do is open up the document that you’d like to edit. Find the file that it has been saved in, and double-click on the icon to open it up.

2. When the document is open, you will want to scan the menu along the top of the screen to find the ‘View’ option. Click on it to open up the ‘View’ menu.

3. There will be plenty of options to choose from at this stage. To save you some time reading lots of words, scan through the subsections by viewing the titles at the bottom of the menu. Look for the ‘Show’ section, with three options with tick-boxes alongside them.

4. There should be three options in the ‘Show’ section:
   1. Ruler
   2. Gridlines
   3. Navigation Pane

You will want to click on the tiny tick-box next to ‘Navigation Pane’. 

5. Once you have clicked on the box next to ‘Navigation Pane’, a tick will appear in the box, and a separate menu should appear on the left side of the screen. The title will read ‘Navigation’, and all the headings in your document will be visible beneath it.

6. The next part is easy: all you have to do is click on the heading that you want to move. Hold down, and drag the heading up or down, depending on where you want to place it.

7. Once you have dragged the heading and placed it where you want, you will notice that the entire written section will have also moved on your document.

Cut And Pasting

As we mentioned earlier, this won’t be possible for those using a program older than Word 2010. However, not all hope is lost if this is the case.

It will take a little more time to complete, but you can always cut each section and paste them in your preferred place on the document. 

To do this, you’ll need to highlight the entire section (click and drag until the whole section is selected). Right-click on the highlighted section, and select the ‘Cut’ option at the top of the dropdown menu.

Alternatively, you can hold down the Ctrl key and the ‘X’ key at the same time to cut text. You will know that the text has been cut when it disappears from the screen. 

Then, scroll to the page in your document where you want to place your cut section. Click the top of this page; you can either right-click again and select ‘Paste’, or you can hold down the Ctrl key and the ‘V’ key at the same time.

Once you have done this, the text will reappear on the screen.

Final Thoughts

Microsoft Word is such an easy-to-use tool, which is why it is so popular with so many people around the world.

Even actions that seem complicated at first glance – like rearranging pages – become really easy once you’ve worked it out.

If you’re still unsure on how to do this, go back to our step-by-step guide above and follow each step carefully until you have completed your task.

We hope you found this guide helpful.