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Microsoft Word

Creating Subdocuments from a Master Document

You can also create a master document from a single file organized with outlining. Word enables you to use the Heading 1–9 styles as a basis for identifying how to separate the content of a single document into a series of subdocuments.

When you save the master document, Word automatically saves the subdocument under a name based on the heading that introduces the subdocument. Follow these steps to break a document it into subdocuments:

  1. Open a new document
  2. In the first paragraph type “Word 2019 Master Document Tutorial” and format it with the Title style found in Style Gallery (Home tab > Style group).
  3. Write Chapter 1 in next paragraph and format it with the Heading 1 style found in Style Gallery.
  4. Repeat the previous step by writing the Chapter 2, Chapter 3 and Chapter 4.
  5. Click View > Outline and click Show Document from the Outlining tab.
  6. Select Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, and Chapter 4 headings and click Create from the Outlining tab .
  7. Close the Outline view.
  8. Click File > Save As command to choose an adequate folder to save the master document. Saving master document will also create independent .docx files to identify each subdocument, naming them with their first Heading 1 style text (Chapter 1.docx, Chapter 2.docx, Chapter 3.docx, and Chapter 4.docx in same folder).

The content of subdocuments not appears when you close the master document and reopen it:

Click View > Outline and then click Expand Subdocuments from the Outlining tab to show the content of subdocuments: