How to Move Pages in InDesign

Moving pages within your Adobe InDesign document is a straightforward process primarily managed through the Pages panel. This allows you to reorder the sequence of your existing pages.

Understanding the Pages Panel

The Pages panel is your central hub for navigating, adding, deleting, and rearranging pages in your InDesign document.

• To open the Pages panel, go to Window > Pages.
• Pages are displayed as thumbnails in the panel, organized by spreads (facing pages) or single pages.

Steps to Move Pages

The most common method to move pages involves dragging and dropping within the Pages panel.

Method 1: Drag and Drop Pages

1. Open the Pages Panel: Ensure the Pages panel (Window > Pages) is visible.
2. Select the Page(s): Click on the thumbnail of the page you want to move.
   • To select multiple consecutive pages, click the first page, then hold down the Shift key and click the last page. This selects all pages in between, as shown in video tutorials on moving pages.
   • To select multiple non-consecutive pages, hold down the Ctrl (Windows) or Command (macOS) key and click each page you want to select.
3. Drag the Page(s): Click and drag the selected page thumbnail(s) to the desired location in the panel.
4. Drop the Page(s): As you drag, a black vertical bar will appear between page thumbnails, indicating where the page(s) will be inserted. Release the mouse button when the black bar is at the correct position.

Your selected pages will now appear in their new order within the document.

Method 2: Using the "Move Pages" Command

For more precise control, especially when moving pages to the beginning or end, or to a completely different section, you can use the panel menu.

1. Open the Pages Panel: (Window > Pages).
2. Select the Page(s): Select the page(s) you want to move using Shift (for consecutive) or Ctrl/Command (for non-consecutive) clicks, as described above.
3. Access Panel Menu: Click the options menu icon (usually lines or a downward arrow) in the upper-right corner of the Pages panel.
4. Choose "Move Pages...": Select this option from the dropdown menu.
5. Specify Destination: In the Move Pages dialog box, enter the following:
   • Destination Page: Enter the page number before which you want the selected pages to be inserted. For example, entering 5 will place the pages immediately before page 5.
   • To: Choose Before Page, After Page, or At End of Document. Selecting At End of Document moves the pages to the very end, regardless of the Destination Page number entered (though you still need to enter a number).
   • Leave Pages in Original Location: Keep this unchecked unless you want to duplicate the pages instead of moving them.
6. Confirm: Click OK to execute the move.

This method is particularly useful for moving pages over long distances within a document or ensuring they land precisely before or after a specific page number.

Moving pages within InDesign using either the drag-and-drop method or the "Move Pages" command through the Pages panel allows you to easily restructure your document's layout and flow.