Figure Captions Change Incorrectly

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 23, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365


Peter is having trouble with captions. When he puts two pictures side by side with captions under each, the numbering changes. For example, pictures A and B are side by side on the same page. If he adds a caption to A (Figure 1-1) and then to B (Figure 1-2), A becomes Figure 1-2 and B Figure 1-1 after updating. Peter doesn't want to "freeze" the captions, as they need to be dynamic. He wonders how to get the correct captions to be used.

It is important to remember that pictures (images) can be inserted in your document either inline or "floating." If your images are inline, then there should be no problem. However, it sounds like Peter's images are floating, meaning text wraps around them.

In this case, it is important to understand where the images are anchored. You can see this by clicking on the Show/Hide tool on the Home tab of the ribbon. When you click on an image to select it, you should be able to see an anchor icon indicating where the image is anchored. In side-by-side images, if your right image is anchored at a position that is before the anchor for the left image, then as far as Word is concerned, the right image occurs before the left image, and it will caption them accordingly. In other words, it is the anchors—not the actual images—that indicate, to Word, the sequence in which the images occur.

The solution in this case is to simply make sure the anchors occur in the order in which you want the images to be handled by Word. Make the adjustment, update the fields, and you should be good to go.

If that doesn't work for you (though it should), consider putting your images and their captions into either a text box or a simple single-row table. That should help make your desired placement very evident to Word.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8480) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Delimited Text-to-Columns in a Macro

The Text-to-Columns tool is an extremely powerful feature that allows you to divide data in a variety of ways. Excel even ...

Discover More

Copying Pictures with a Macro

Copying information using a macro is rather simple, although there are multiple ways you can do the copying. The most ...

Discover More

Ignoring Empty Cells in a Chart

If the data you are using as the source for a chart includes some cells that are empty, you may want to exclude those ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2013. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word 2013 Step by Step today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Placing Many Graphics in a Document

Word documents can contain more than just text. You can even create documents that contain almost no text at all. This ...

Discover More

Gradient Prints as Stripes

When you print a graphic that includes a gradient, you may not get exactly the output you expect. This tip examines two ...

Discover More

Keeping an Image Centered in a Table Cell

Tables are often used in Word documents to help with page layout. This may lead you to inserting images within the cells ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 8 + 5?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.