Troubleshooting a Table of Contents

Word’s automatic Table of Contents feature comes in handy when you’re working on a long document. The Table should update automatically when you edit your document. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen.

When you create a Table of Contents, Word takes the entries from the document headings. The entries and page numbers are inserted as fields. Theoretically, the changes you make to the document should update instantly in the Table.

But, you may find that the fields aren’t updated when you view your document or print it. Fortunately, there are several things you can do. First, you can use the F9 key to update the document fields.

Secondly, you can tell Word to update the Table. In Outline view, click Update TOC on the Outlining toolbar. In the dialog box that appears, select whether you want to update page numbers only or the entire table. In most cases, you will want to update the entire table. Click OK.

If the problem occurs when you print the document, check your print options. Click Tools and select Options. Open the Print tab. Select Update fields in the Print Options section. Click OK.