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How to Split a Word Document into Multiple Documents?

Author: Amanda Li Last Modified: 2025-01-09

If you have a large Word document that needs to be split into multiple smaller documents, this tutorial will guide you through three effective methods. Whether you prefer using VBA to split by a specific delimiter or by pages, or opting for the streamlined functionality of Kutools for Word, you’ll find a solution that suits your needs.

Split Word document by specified delimiter with VBA

Rather than manually splitting a document, you can use VBA to split a Word document by a specific delimiter. Follow these steps:

  1. Press Alt + F11 to open the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window.
  2. Click Insert > Module, and paste the VBA code below into the module window. 
    Sub SplitNotes(delim As String, strFilename As String)
Dim doc As Document
Dim arrNotes
Dim I As Long
Dim X As Long
Dim Response As Integer
arrNotes = Split(ActiveDocument.Range, delim)
Response = MsgBox("This will split the document into " & UBound(arrNotes) + 1 & " sections. Do you wish to proceed?", 4)
If Response = 7 Then Exit Sub
For I = LBound(arrNotes) To UBound(arrNotes)
If Trim(arrNotes(I)) <> "" Then
X = X + 1
Set doc = Documents.Add
doc.Range = arrNotes(I)
doc.SaveAs ThisDocument.Path & "\" & strFilename & Format(X, "000")
doc.Close True
End If
Next I
End Sub
Sub test()
'delimiter & filename
SplitNotes "///", "Notes "
End Sub
  3. Click the Run button or press F5 to execute the VBA.
  4. In the Microsoft Word pop-up, confirm by clicking Yes.

    Confirmation dialog

Notes:

  • The script will look for "///" (on line 22 of the code) within the document to identify the points where it should divide the text into separate files. If the delimiter in your document is different from "///", you must update the VBA code to reflect the correct delimiter or modify your document to include "///" at the desired split points.
  • You can replace "Notes" on line 22 of the code with any text to create a more meaningful filename prefix for your split documents.
  • The split documents will be saved in the same location as the original file.
  • No delimiter is needed at the end of the document; otherwise, a blank file will be created.

Split Word document by heading/page/section break/page break using Kutools for Word

Kutools for Word provides a more convenient and flexible way to split a document compared to manual methods or VBA. It offers multiple options to split a document by headings, pages, section breaks, page breaks, every n pages, or custom page ranges, allowing you to tailor the splitting process to your specific needs.

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  1. Click Kutools Plus > Split to enable the Split feature.

    Split option on the Kutools Plus tab on the ribbon

  2. In the Split Document dialog, configure the following options:
    Kutools Split Document dialog box
    1. Choose a splitting method from the Split by drop-down list. Available options include heading 1, page breaks, section breaks, pages, every n pages, or custom page ranges.

      Split by options

    2. Click the Browse button Path selection button to select a destination folder for the split documents.
    3. Enter a keyword as the prefix for the new document names in the Document Prefix field. Tip: Clicking the Refresh button Refresh button can preivew the split document names in the Preview box.
    4. Click Ok.

The document will be split according to the specified method, and the new files will be saved to the designated folder.

Notes:

  • If splitting by Every n pages, specify the number in the relevant box.

    Split by Every n pages

  • For custom page ranges, input them separated by commas (e.g., 1,3-5,12).

    Custom Page Ranges

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Split Word document by page with VBA

If you need to quickly split a Word document into multiple documents, each containing one page, you can use a VBA macro to automate this task. Follow the steps below:

  1. Press Alt + F11 to open the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window.
  2. Click Insert > Module, then paste the following VBA code into the new module window: 
    Sub SplitIntoPages()
Dim docMultiple As Document
Dim docSingle As Document
Dim rngPage As Range
Dim iCurrentPage As Integer
Dim iPageCount As Integer
Dim strNewFileName As String
Application.ScreenUpdating = False 'Makes the code run faster and reduces screen flicker a bit.
Set docMultiple = ActiveDocument 'Work on the active document
Set rngPage = docMultiple.Range 'Instantiate the range object
iCurrentPage = 1
'Get the document's page count
iPageCount = docMultiple.Content.ComputeStatistics(wdStatisticPages)
Do Until iCurrentPage > iPageCount
    If iCurrentPage = iPageCount Then
        rngPage.End = ActiveDocument.Range.End 'Last page (no next page)
    Else
        'Find the beginning of the next page
        'Must use the Selection object. The Range.Goto method will not work on a page
        Selection.GoTo wdGoToPage, wdGoToAbsolute, iCurrentPage + 1
        'Set the end of the range to the point between the pages
        rngPage.End = Selection.Start
    End If
    rngPage.Copy 'Copy the page into the Windows clipboard
    Set docSingle = Documents.Add 'Create a new document
    docSingle.Range.Paste 'Paste the clipboard contents to the new document
    'Remove any manual page break to prevent a second blank
    docSingle.Range.Find.Execute Findtext:="^m", ReplaceWith:=""
    'Build a new sequentially numbered file name based on the original multi-paged file name and path
    strNewFileName = Replace(docMultiple.FullName, ".doc", "_" & Right$("000" & iCurrentPage, 4) & ".doc")
    docSingle.SaveAs strNewFileName 'Save the new single-paged document
    iCurrentPage = iCurrentPage + 1 'Move to the next page
    docSingle.Close 'Close the new document
    rngPage.Collapse wdCollapseEnd 'Go to the next page
Loop 'Go to the top of the do loop
Application.ScreenUpdating = True 'Restore the screen updating
'Destroy the objects.
Set docMultiple = Nothing
Set docSingle = Nothing
Set rngPage = Nothing
End Sub
  3. Click the Run button or press F5 to execute the VBA.

Note: The split documents will be saved in the same location as the original file.

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