MS-Word / General Formatting

Updating an Index

Whenever you edit your document, you run the risk of messing up the index. Even a slight change can push text from the bottom of one page to the top of the next and possibly invalidate the index. Fortunately, this section gives you several ways to keep your index up-to-date.

Choose File → Options to open the Word Options dialog box. Select the Display tab and then check the Update Fields Before Printing in the Printing Options section and click OK. Word automatically updates the index every time you print your document.

Tip: To update an index without printing the document, click inside the index and press F9. If you point to the index and right-click, the shortcut menu that appears includes an Update Field command. Using this command works the same as pressing F9 or clicking the Update Index button on the References tab.
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In this tutorial:

  1. Referencing with Microsoft Word
  2. Creating a Table of Contents or Table of Figures
  3. Creating a Table of Contents
  4. Updating a Table of Contents
  5. Heading Styles
  6. Creating a Table of Figures or Other Similar Tables
  7. Footnotes and Endnotes
  8. Changing the Footnote Format
  9. Changing the Reference Marks
  10. Finding a Footnote Reference
  11. Indexing Your Masterpiece
  12. Creating an Index
  13. Updating an Index
  14. Marking a Range of Pages
  15. Creating References and Sources
  16. Creating a Bibliography
  17. Tables of Authorities
  18. Creating a Table of Authorities
  19. Updating a Table of Authorities
  20. Adding Your Own Categories
  21. Working with Outlines and Master Documents
  22. Working with Master Documents
  23. Whipping up a master document
  24. Putting an existing file into a master document