SharePoint Document Issues

How to Open a SharePoint Word Link to a Specific Page for View-Only Users

Maira Mehtab Sep 21, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user wants to create a view-only sharing link for a Word document in SharePoint that directs the recipient to a specific section or page.

Product: SharePoint and Microsoft Word
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Sharing a specific section of a document with users who only have read access.
Observed behavior: Links generated using the 'Copy Link to Heading' feature open at the first page for view-only users, successfully jumping to the heading only if the user has edit permissions.

Before you start

Ensure you have the necessary permissions to generate and manage sharing links for the specific Word document in your SharePoint library.

Solution 1Recommended

Append URL Parameters to a View-Only Sharing Link

Modify a standard view-only link to force the document to open on a specific page number, bypassing the limitation of heading links.

The 'Copy Link to Heading' feature creates a URL format that does not support the direct document action code for users without edit permissions. To direct view-only users to a specific part of the document, you must use a standard sharing link and append a page-specific URL parameter.

Generate a standard view-only link

Navigate to your SharePoint document library, select the Word document, click 'Share', and generate a new sharing link with 'Can view' (read-only) permissions.

Remove conflicting links

If you previously created links using 'Copy Link to Heading', consider removing them from the 'Manage Access' menu to prevent user confusion.

Modify the URL parameters

Copy the new view-only link into a text editor. Append the parameter string '&action=embedview&wdStartOn=#' to the end of the URL.

Set the specific page number

Replace the '#' in the appended string with the actual page number you want the document to open on (for example, '&action=embedview&wdStartOn=5'). Share this modified URL with your recipients.

Feature Limitation: This method directs users to a specific page number rather than a specific heading text. These parameters will not work if appended to URLs generated by the 'Copy Link to Heading' feature.

Solution 2

Consult Microsoft Q&A for SharePoint Development

If you strictly need to link to a heading rather than a page, consult the SharePoint Development community for custom URL modification techniques.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does 'Copy Link to Heading' only work in Edit mode?

The URL structure generated by the 'Copy Link to Heading' feature relies on direct document action codes that are currently only processed correctly when the recipient has full edit permissions for the file.

Can I link directly to a specific heading in a read-only SharePoint Word document?

Currently, standard view-only links in SharePoint do not support direct heading jumps. You must use a page-based URL modification (&wdStartOn=#) to approximate this functionality.

What happens if I append the page number code to a 'Copy Link to Heading' URL?

The parameters &action=embedview&wdStartOn=# will not work with the specialized format of 'Copy Link to Heading' URLs. You must generate a standard 'Can view' sharing link first and apply the parameters to that URL.

Document & File Issues