Quick tip: In Microsoft Word, in a document with in-document hyperlinks, after navigating to another location in the document by clicking on a hyperlink (typically by holding Ctrl and clicking the link, as Word will prompt when the mouse cursor is hovered over a link), you can go back to where you were before in the document by using Alt+LeftArrow (hold down the Alt key and press the Left Arrow key) – similar to clicking on the Back button in a web browser.
Alt+RightArrow also works to go forward once again after using the Alt+LeftArrow shortcut to go back.
These are a good shortcuts to be aware of, since Word doesn’t by default show Back/Forward buttons in the toolbar like a browser does. (This is the case in Word 2003 – I don’t have a copy of Word 2007 in front of me at the moment to check.)
In Word 2003, you can get Word to show Back/Forward buttons in the toolbar by making Word’s Web toolbar visible. (Right-click a blank area of the toolbar at the top of the Word window, and select Web from the context menu that appears.)
The Alt+LeftArrow and Alt+RightArrow keyboard shortcuts to navigate Back or Forward respectively also work in most web browsers on Windows.
Posts
Very helpful. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteExcellent tip Thanks mate.
ReplyDeleteThanks. This is the tip I was searching for. Very Helpful
ReplyDeleteThank you mate...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great tip, Jon!
ReplyDeleteThat was quite helpful.
ReplyDeleteHow about navigating back after finding text (Ctrl+F) and making edits?
ReplyDeleteThank you! Finally I found the tip.
ReplyDeleteGreat Help.. Saves Lot of Time.
ReplyDeleteTNX
ReplyDeleteThanks for that great time saving tip.
ReplyDeleteMy Hero of the day! :)
ReplyDelete5 and a half years later :P
Thx mate!
Daargh - been frustrated with the lack of a back button for years. Thanks for this! For Word 2010 users, you can add the back/forward buttons to the quick-access toolbar or the ribbon by right-clicking on the tools ribbon, choosing the appropriate customize option, selecting "All Commands" from the "Choosing Commands From:" pick list, navigating alphabetically to the "Back and/or "Forward" buttons, and selecting "Add". :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jim. I had not thought to change the selection of "all commands". This is great, as I sometimes have several links to the same target, so creating a "back" button like the "top" buttons sometimes seen will not work.
DeleteThanks for the tip.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteThank you! Have been looking for this MS help was utterly unhelpful.
ReplyDeleteThis is a brilliant and most valuable tip. I have written a 300 page Word document with thousands of hyperlinks so you can imagine how helpful this is.
ReplyDeleteVery helpful. Thank you
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot!
ReplyDeleteHow to go back after using Navigation Pane to another Section Heading.. and back to where I was.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for this small, simple but disproportionately useful tip!
ReplyDeleteWow thanks a lot
ReplyDeleteI was wondering where that little button went! Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I knew it had to be a thing! This was the second google result. The first had to do with going back to where you left off your editing. Now I need to google how to go back in forth once I pdf this word doc!
ReplyDeleteSimple and useful tip! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this amazing tip!
ReplyDeleteI use this button all the time. It has recently stopped working when I am in a shared document (shared on SharePoint). Has this happened to anyone else? Is there another way to use this function while working in a shared document?
ReplyDeleteThanks, very helpful.
ReplyDeleteThat was really useful
ReplyDelete