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The Word shortcut to open the Navigation pane is one of those shortcuts you’ll use often. Because it provides a quick way to move around your long documents. Likewise, it’s a quick and easy way to search for content.
The keyboard shortcut to open the Navigation pane in Word is Ctrl+F.
But here’s a second option you may find useful. This shortcut also uses the keyboard, but it works with KeyTips to access the Navigation pane via the ribbon.
I mostly use this KeyTips shortcut when I want to navigate to a specific point in my document. Because if I have a word or sentence selected in my document and I use the Ctrl+F shortcut, Word will search for the selected text. And I don’t want this to happen.
So here’s how to open the navigation pane in Word using KeyTips:
- Press the Alt key. You’ll notice small boxes appear above ribbon tab names (these are called KeyTips – who knew!?!);
- Next, select W to access the View tab. You’ll of course first need to remember that the Navigation pane option is found on the View tab. This should be easy enough given you’re looking to open or ‘view’ the Navigation pane;
- Then select K which is the KeyTip box that appears above the Navigation pane option.
You can also use this KeyTip sequence to close the Navigation pane. Or hit the Esc key.
Related articles
Be sure to read these related articles if you’d like to know more about how to work with the Navigation pane:
Happy navigating!
