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How to copy outline (headings) only in Word?

Author Kelly Last modified

Normally, you can easily view a Word document’s outline content by switching to the Outline view, or opening the Navigation Pane. However, it seems not possible to directly copy only the outline (headings).

Whether you need to share an overview with colleagues or reorganize your document, knowing how to copy just the headings can be efficient. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the steps to easily copy the outline (headings) only in Word.

Copy outline (headings) only using Table of Contents in Word

Copy outline (headings) only and preserve original heading styles using Kutools for Word

Copy outline (headings) only using Send to Microsoft PowerPoint feature

Copy outline (headings) only using Table of Contents in Word

This method will guide you through copying the entire outline (headings) of a Word document by using the Table of Contents (TOC) feature.

  1. Open the Word document that contains the outline (headings) you want to copy.
  2. Place the cursor in the document at the location where you want to insert the outline (headings).
  3. Go to the "References" tab and click "Table of Contents", then choose "Custom Table of Contents".
    Custom Table of Contents option on the Table of Contents dropdown
  4. In the "Table of Contents" dialog box:
    1. Uncheck the "Show page numbers" box.
    2. Adjust the heading levels to show in the "Show levels" box.
    3. Click "OK".
      Table of Contents dialog
  5. Select the inserted table of contents and copy it by pressing Ctrl + C.
    Inserted Table of Contents
  6. Go to the location where you want to paste the copied outline (headings), and press Ctrl + V.

Note: The pasted content will be plain text unless you leave the TOC as-is. For copying the outline with links and styles, keep the TOC intact.

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Copy outline (headings) only and preserve original heading styles using Kutools for Word

If you want to copy the entire outline content (all headings) along with their original heading styles, the "Select Heading Paragraphs" feature in Kutools for Word makes it easy to achieve this.

Kutools for Word, equipped with AI 🤖, offers over 100 handy features to simplify your tasks.
  1. Open the source document from which you want to copy the outline content, and click "Kutools" > "Paragraphs" > "Select Heading Paragraphs".
    Select Heading Paragraphs option on the Kutools tab on the ribbon
  2. Now, all headings in the document are selected. Press Ctrl + C to copy them.
  3. Navigate to the location where you want to paste the copied outline (headings), and press Ctrl + V.

Now, all outline content with the original heading styles will be copied and pasted completely, as shown below:

Outline content with original heading styles are copied
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Copy outline (headings) only using Send to Microsoft PowerPoint feature

To copy the entire outline (all levels of headings) from a Word document, you can use the "Send to Microsoft PowerPoint" feature. Follow the steps below:

  1. Open the Word document from which you want to copy the outline. Click the "Customize Quick Access Toolbar" button Customize Quick Access Toolbar button > "More Commands" from the Ribbon.
    More Commands option on the ribbon
  2. In the Word Options dialog box:
    1. Select "Commands Not in the Ribbon" from the "Choose commands from" drop-down list.
    2. Find and select the "Send to Microsoft PowerPoint" item from the left command box.
    3. Click the "Add" button and then click "OK".
      Word Options dialog box
  3. The "Send to Microsoft PowerPoint" button Send to Microsoft PowerPoint button is now added to the Quick Access Toolbar. Click this button.
    Send to Microsoft PowerPoint button on the Quick Access Toolbar
  4. Microsoft PowerPoint will open with the Word document pasted. In PowerPoint, click "View" > "Outline View".
    Outline View button on the View tab on the PowerPoint ribbon

    Note: If you are using PowerPoint 2010, click "View" > "Normal" first, then click the "Outline" tab at the top of the Navigation Pane.

  5. The outline will now display in the Navigation Pane. Place your cursor in the Navigation Pane, press Ctrl + A to select all the outline content, and then press Ctrl + C to copy it.
    Outline displaying on the Navigation Pane
  6. Return to Word and create a new document. Press Ctrl + V to paste the outline content.
    Outline copied to a new document

Note: This method will copy the outline content as plain text. If you want to copy the outline with heading styles, please use the Kutools method.

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Demo: How to copy outline (headings) only in Word

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