2 Ways to Link to a Section in Google Docs

The table of contents does a great job of offering quick links to different headings in Google Docs. However, what if you want to link to a specific section in Google Docs? There can be many reasons why you may want to link to another part of a Google Docs document. For example, you might need to hyperlink a repetitive instruction section so you won’t have to write the same instruction again.

Thankfully, Google Docs makes it easy to link to a section using a bookmark option and directly to a heading. You can link to an individual section, and even create multiple links to the same section. In this post, I’ll show you exactly how to do it.

Link to a Heading in Google Docs

This is the easier option, but it’s limited to only the headings. Since headings usually mean a dedicated section, it’s good to know how to link to them. Besides, you don’t need a prior setup to link to them. Here’s how:

First, your document must be properly formatted with the headings, at least the section you want to link. If not, highlight the heading text and then click on the Styles button (should say “Normal text”) at the top to choose your heading. It doesn’t matter whether it’s h1, h2, or h3.

Once the heading is created, highlight the text you want to link to it and click on the Insert link button or press the Ctrl+K keyboard shortcut.

Now click on the Headings and bookmarks option in the Insert link window.

It will show all the headings in your document. Click on the one you want to link to this text.

That’s it, now whenever someone will click on this link, they will be immediately moved to that heading in the document.

Create a Bookmark to link to a Section

Now if you want to link to an exact line or word, then the bookmark feature will be more useful. The only downside I see to this method is that it adds a tiny blue flag next to the word indicating this area is bookmarked. If that little change to your document formatting doesn’t matter to you, then here’s how to do it:

Click at the start of the line/word you want to link, so the cursor will be placed there. Afterward, click on the Insert menu at the top and select Bookmark from it.

This will place a tiny blue flag at the cursor location. You can click on this flag to either remove the bookmark or copy it.

To link this section, you can copy this bookmark location by clicking on it and then adding it as a link to any text in the document. Alternatively, open the Insert link option on a highlighted text and go to the same Heading and bookmarks option again. All your bookmarked content will be listed here to choose from.

Just like the heading, clicking on the linked text will directly move the user to the bookmarked area.

Tip: The copied link can be freely given to anyone outside the document as well. If the person has access to the document, they can open that exact section of the document using the link.

Final Words

Personally, when I create a guide on Google Docs, I find these options very useful when I talk about different methods to achieve the same goal. Such instructions usually have the same steps that I can just link to within the document. I am sure you’ll find it useful too and your readers will appreciate the easy access so they won’t have to scroll around in the document.

Don’t forget that you can repeat the process as many times as you like to add multiple links to the same bookmark or heading.