How to Bookmark in Google Docs [Complete Guide]

Bookmarks are powerful when it comes to making your documents easier to navigate. This would be particularly handy among teams who want to make progress faster. Knowing how to insert a bookmark in Google Docs is an essential skill then.

To make one, select your preferred text first. Then, go to “Insert” and click “Bookmark.” This adds a blue bookmark icon beside your text, which means you’ve added your bookmark successfully.

In this article, we’ll delve more into how to bookmark in Google Docs, how to link them to other parts of your document, and other how-tos on renaming and removing them.

What Are the Benefits of Using Bookmarks in Google Docs?

Bookmarking is yet another feature in Google Docs that helps you navigate your documents more conveniently. Here are a few reasons why you should use them in your projects.

• Makes documents easier to skim and scan: While bookmarks may provide no tangible use for short documents, they’re incredibly helpful in finding certain texts when working on large documents with hundreds of pages.
• Allows for easier collaboration among teams: You can use bookmarks to redirect your readers to the important parts of your file, which would be especially handy when collaborating with others. This not only helps them understand your content more easily but can also quicken the progress.
• Creates a handy table of contents: Google Docs allows you to link to a bookmark, and you can use the generated hyperlinks to create a table of contents. Since they’re clickable, you and your readers can easily go through specific parts of your entire document.

How to Add a Bookmark in Google Docs

Adding a bookmark to your document in Google Docs is much easier than you thought. Here’s how to create a bookmark in Google Docs.

1. To get started, open your Google Docs document
2. Select the parts that you want to bookmark
3. At the menu bar, go to “Insert” and click “Bookmark”

It’s easy, right? You will know that your bookmark has been placed successfully once you see a blue bookmark icon at the side of the text that you selected.

How to Link to a Bookmark in Google Docs

You’d want to either get the link of your bookmark or use it in a hyperlink to truly get the benefits of using it. For example, you can hyperlink to it on your table of contents to specify a certain paragraph or section. Below are the steps to accomplish this.

1. Highlight a certain part of your text where you want to put the hyperlink

2. Next, navigate to “Insert” > “Link”

3. Alternatively, you can either toggle the Hyperlink icon on the toolbar or press Ctrl + K on your keyboard

4. Go to “Headings and bookmarks” and choose the bookmark you want to link

Alternative Method to Link to a Bookmark

Another way you can link to your bookmark is to toggle the Copy link icon at the context menu that appears when you hover over it. This generates a link that you can either send to your teammates or use as the link that you enter on a Hyperlink instead. While a bit more cumbersome than the previous method, here’s how you do it.

1. Hit the “Copy link” button on your bookmark

2. Next, select your preferred text to add a hyperlink to

3. Go to “Insert” > “Link” or press Ctrl + K on your keyboard

4. On the textbox, paste the link that you copied

5. Finally, click “Apply” to save your changes

How to Name a Bookmark in Google Docs

You may also want to name your bookmarks, especially when you’re going to use them as a part of your table of contents. This would help you distinguish among your bookmarks, letting you avoid hyperlinking mistakes and the like.

Unfortunately, Google Docs has no native feature that allows you to name and rename your bookmarks. Instead, you can use Search & Navigate, a Google Docs add-on to do this. Simply follow the steps below:

1. On your document, navigate to “Extensions” > “Add-ons” > “Get add-ons”

2. Type “Search & Navigate” on the search bar of the window that appears

3. Next, proceed to the installation process of the add-on
4. Once installed, go to “Extensions” > “Search & Navigate” > “Start”

5. Go to the Bookmarks tab by clicking the bookmark icon

6. Next, select the text that you want to bookmark, then click on the Plus (+) button

7. Alternatively, you can go to “Insert” > “Bookmark” to add your bookmarks

8. To rename your bookmark, click the vertical three-dot icon at its side and toggle “Rename”

9. After that, enter your preferred bookmark name, then simply hit the check mark to save your changes

Is There a Google Docs Insert Bookmark Shortcut?

Unfortunately, Google Docs doesn’t support a direct keyboard shortcut to do the bookmarking. There’s a workaround that you can do, though. Here’s what you need to do.

1. Select your text
2. Press Alt + Shift + I at the same time on your keyboard to go to the Insert menu
3. Then, press B to apply the bookmark

How to Remove a Google Docs Bookmark

When you no longer need your bookmarks and want to remove them, follow these steps.

1. First, click the blue bookmark icon beside your text
2. Next, toggle the “Remove” button (the trash bin symbol)

Frequently Asked Questions

Where Is the Bookmark Icon in Google Docs?

There is no bookmark icon that you’ll see right away on the toolbar of Google Docs. Instead, you can find the Bookmark feature by navigating to “Insert” > “Bookmark.” This adds a blue bookmark icon at the side of your chosen text.

What Does Bookmark Mean in Google Docs?

As you would place a bookmark on a physical novel book to keep tabs on the latest chapter you’ve read, the Bookmark feature in Google Docs works the same. It lets you keep markers throughout your document to find and go back to certain parts of it easily.

Final Thoughts

Learning how to bookmark in Google Docs lets you make your Google Docs much easier to navigate for your readers. You can use them as a part of your table of contents or even send them as a link to your teammates.

Make sure to browse our blog to find more tutorials on Google Docs and other Google products. And if you want to gain full mastery of them, enrolling in Google Suite courses at Udemy would be your best bet.

You may also want to check out this masterclass to bring your writing skills to the next level.

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