Removing chapters, sections, or topics from your plan outline Follow

If there are chapters, sections, or topics in the outline that you don’t want to be included in your plan, it is straightforward to remove them. Removed chapter or section headings will be permanently deleted from your outline. (If you want to re-instate these later, you can easily re-create them.)

Note: As a non-permanent option, you may want to hide some chapters in your plan when you download it instead.

When you remove a topic, it will no longer appear as part of your plan’s printed output, but any information you have already entered in the topic will be saved. Other users on your account will be able to view the contents of any removed topic, and you can restore it to your plan at any time.

What are chapters, sections, and topics?

To see an editable view of your outline, click on the Outline section of the Plan tab:

In this view, you will see the same outline with the chapters, sections, and topics in place. This screenshot shows you how the parts of the outline are named, which will be helpful to know as you use the instructions below:

Removing a standard chapter or section:

1. In the Plan tab, click Outline:  
   
2. Click on the chapter or section you want to remove.  
3. Drag the chapter or section to the left sidebar. Drop it there. A warning message will appear, as shown below:
   
4. Once you have deleted a chapter or section, all topics contained in it will also be removed. You will see, however, that all the topics (and any text you've entered into them) will be saved to the left sidebar, in alphabetical order, as Available Content. Charts and tables removed from the outline will return to the Charts and Tables section of the Available Content list:
   
   
5. To filter out blank topics, select Only show topics with content:
   
   

Removing a standard topic:

1. In the Plan tab, click Outline:
   
2. Click on the topic you want to remove.
3. Drag the topic to the left sidebar. Drop it there:
   
4. The change will be saved automatically, and the topic and any text you've entered will be retained in the Available Content sidebar.

Removing a custom chapter, section, or topic

If you create a custom chapter, section, or topic for your plan and decide to remove it later, any text you have entered in the topic will be saved in the Available Content list. Custom chapter and section headings will be deleted, but you can restore them if needed.

1. In the Plan tab, click Outline:
    
2. Click on the custom chapter, section, or topic you want to remove.  
3. Drag the custom chapter, section, or topic to the left sidebar. Drop it there. If you are deleting a chapter or section, a warning message will appear:

   

4. Click Confirm to save the change. Although the chapter or section heading will be deleted, any custom topics you've created within it will automatically be saved in the Available Content list.

Deleting a custom topic

If you've created a custom topic and then removed it from your plan outline, that topic and any text you've entered will be retained in the Available Content sidebar in the Topics section. If you'd like to delete this topic and its text permanently, follow these steps:

1. Mouse over the custom topic in the sidebar. A small trash can icon will appear:
   
2. Click that icon. An overlay warns you that the topic and text will be deleted permanently. Click Confirm to process the deletion:
   

More on editing the plan outline:

• Adding a chapter, section, or topic to your plan
• Moving a chapter, section, or topic in your outline
• Restoring a chapter or section you've deleted