How to Create a Thumb Index for a Word Document

This article explains how to create a thumb index for a Word document. Instructions apply to Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2019, Word 2016, Word 2013, and Word 2010.

Prepare Your Document

Create one tab for each division in your Word document (such as chapters or alphabetized sections) using a tall, thin (single-column, multi-row) table attached to the Header. This table will be identical in all the sections, but in each section, there will be a different highlighted row with text.

1. Open the Word document.

2. Select the Insert tab.

3. In the Header & Footer group, select Header, then choose Edit Header. The header is visible, and the Header & Footer tab appears on the Ribbon.

4. In the Options group, select Different First Page if you want the tabs to be only on the first page of each section. Select Different Odd and Even for tabs on all the right-hand pages.

   You might have to check both boxes in certain cases. For instance, you may have different running heads on odd and even pages, but no running head on the first page of the sections.

5. In the Close group, select Close Header & Footer to exit the header and return to the document.

6. Select the Layout tab.

7. At the start of each division, go to the Page Setup group, select Breaks, then choose Odd Page.

Insert the Table

Inserting the table in a text box or frame is the key to creating index tabs.

1. Select the Insert tab.

2. In the Header & Footer group, select Header, then choose Edit Header. The header is visible, and the Header & Footer tab appears on the Ribbon.

3. Select Show Previous to go to the first page header or odd page header, depending on which option you selected.

4. Return to the Insert tab.

5. In the Text group, select the Text Box drop-down arrow and choose Draw Text Box. Draw a text box in the Header.

   The size of the text box does not matter because you can alter it later.

6. Select the Shape Format tab.

7. In the Shape Styles group, select Shape Outline and choose No Outline.

8. In the Shape Styles group, select Shape Fill and choose No Fill.

9. To determine the required tab height, decide how much space your tabs will occupy on the page. Divide that space by the number of tabs you need. Then, add a bit more for the empty paragraph that Word automatically creates under the table.

10. Right-click the text box and select Format Shape. In the Format Shape tab, select Layout & Properties and set the internal box margins to 0”.

11. In the Arrange group, select Wrap Text and choose In Line with Text.

12. Set the correct location of the text box. In the Arrange group, select Align, then ensure that the horizontal and vertical settings are Align to Page.

    If your tabs extend the full length of the page, select Align Top.

13. Save the changes to the document.

Insert a Table and Text

Inserting a table with one column and the required number of rows inside the text box creates the tabs. The table fills the width of the text box automatically.

1. Select the Insert tab.

2. Select Table and choose a one-column table with a row for each thumb index you want to create.

3. Select the entire table and go to the Layout tab.

4. In the Cell Size group, set the exact height for the tabs.

5. Enter the text for each tab into individual cells.

Create Separate Tabs

Go to the beginning of the document to make each tab separate.

1. Go to the Header & Footer tab and, in the Navigation group, select Previous to get to the first section.

2. Select Next and choose Link to Previous to unlink from the previous page. Continue through the document and unlink each page from the previous one.

3. Select the first row of the table, select the Shading drop-down arrow, and choose a color.

4. Go to the next section, select the second row of the table, select the Shading drop-down arrow, and choose a color. Repeat for the remaining rows and save the document.