WPS Directory on Windows: Introduction

WPS Directory is a document outline and navigation feature in smart documents; it includes 3 core tasks, with 3 available without membership and 0 membership-related items.

At a Glance

Metric	Value	Notes
Core tasks	3	Matches the number of rows in the How-to Index
Available without membership	3	Matches the number of Free rows in the index
Membership-related items	0	Matches the number of membership-related rows in the index

About This Feature

Overview

Directory is a built-in outline panel in WPS smart documents on Windows. It helps you review document structure from headings, show or hide the directory panel, and jump to a section by clicking a heading node.

Core tasks include:

Show the directory panel for long-document navigation.
Hide the directory panel for a wider reading area.
Jump to a section from a heading node in the outline.

This feature is useful for proposals, project documents, knowledge-base pages, and collaborative documents that use heading structure for navigation.

System Requirements

Item	Requirement
Operating system	A Windows device that can run WPS Office normally
App version	It is recommended to use the latest version of WPS Office
Network	A network connection is recommended when opening online smart documents or synced content
Other	The document should use heading styles so the outline structure can be recognized more clearly

Download & Installation

Item	Details
Official download	WPS Office Free Download
Check after installation	Open WPS Office, then open a smart document and confirm that the directory entry is available on the left side

Source: WPS download page

Compare with Alternatives

Dimension	WPS	Microsoft	Google	Notion	Adobe
Capability Summary	Automatically builds a directory tree from document headings and supports showing, hiding, and clicking nodes to jump. The outline is generated from H1-H6 headings.	Word Navigation Pane shows headings in the document body and lets users click a heading to move to that section.	Google Docs document outline detects headings, shows them in a side panel, and lets users click a heading to jump.	Notion supports headings and a table of contents block or page-level table of contents for section navigation.	Acrobat mainly uses bookmarks and page thumbnails for PDF navigation, which fits finished PDF files rather than live editable heading outlines.
WPS Advantages	Advantage: Combines directory display, hide controls, and heading-based jump navigation directly in WPS smart documents for structured reading.	Compared with WPS: similar heading navigation is available, but the official page focuses on Word document navigation in the Navigation Pane.	Compared with WPS: similar outline-based jumping is available, centered on the Google Docs web document environment.	Compared with WPS: section jumping is available through a table of contents block or page-level table of contents, but it depends on Notion page structure.	Compared with WPS: navigation is centered on PDF bookmarks and thumbnails instead of an editable document heading outline.
Official Source	—	Use the Navigation pane in Word	View document outlines, rulers, & non-printing characters	Format your page	Page thumbnails and bookmarks in PDFs

Overall Conclusion
WPS Directory is well suited to reading and navigating long documents by heading structure. Compared with Word, Google Docs, and Notion, it focuses on showing and using a directory inside smart documents, while Acrobat is more oriented to bookmark navigation in PDF files.

Use Cases

No.	Scenario	Suitable for	Main pain point	How Directory helps
1	Reading long proposal documents	Office users	Too many sections make scrolling inefficient	Open the directory and jump by heading structure
2	Checking heading hierarchy	Editors	It is hard to review whether heading levels are complete	Use the directory tree to inspect H1-H6 structure
3	Finding key sections in collaboration	Team members	People need to locate a specific section quickly	Click a heading node to move to the target section
4	Hiding the side panel for focused reading	General users	The directory panel takes up reading space	Hide the directory to get a wider document area
5	Organizing knowledge documents	Project teams	Growing documents become harder to browse	Keep navigation structured with the directory panel

Membership & Benefits

Free vs WPS Premium

Capability	Free users	WPS Premium
Show or hide the smart document directory	✅	✅
Jump from a directory node to a section	✅	✅
Basic Writer, Spreadsheet, and Presentation components	✅	✅
Some advanced PDF editing and more advanced tools	By feature	✅

Source: WPS Office pricing page; Why do I need to pay for WPS Office?

Recommendations

Use case	Recommended plan	Why
Everyday reading and navigation in smart documents	Free	Directory display, hide, and jump actions are available directly
Broader office work with more advanced tools or PDF features	WPS Premium	Suitable when you also need more advanced capabilities across WPS Office

WPS membership center: Subscribe now

Source: WPS Office pricing page