Creating a Document Shortcut

If you have a need to quickly get to a specific piece of information in a document, one way to do so if you are using Word 95 or a later version of Word is through the use of document shortcuts. These types of shortcuts are typically placed on your desktop, and double-clicking on them results in Word starting, the document loading, and a particular location in the document being displayed.

To create a document shortcut, follow these steps:

1. Restore the size of the Word program window so you can see both your document and the desktop.
2. Load the document for which you want a document shortcut.
3. Select the text you want referenced in the document shortcut.
4. Right-click and drag the selection to your desktop. When you release the right mouse button, a Context menu appears.
5. Choose Create Document Shortcut Here from the Context menu.
6. Word creates the document shortcut on the desktop.

Now, whenever you double-click on the document shortcut, Word loads the document and selects the same text you selected in step 3. Word is able to do this because it creates an OLE bookmark to the selected text. When you no longer need the document shortcut, you can delete it. If you do so, you should also delete the bookmark within Word. You can do so by following these steps:

1. Choose Bookmark from the Insert menu. Word displays the Bookmark dialog box. (Click here to see a related figure.)
2. In the list of bookmarks, select the one used for the document shortcut. It will have a name such as OLE_LINK1.
3. Click on the Delete button.
4. Click on Close.