Updating an Entire Table of Contents

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 22, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021

Whenever Jim chooses to update a Table of Contents, he is presented with a dialog box that asks if he wants to update pages only or the entire table. Jim always wants the entire table updated, so he wonders if there is a way to bypass the dialog box entirely or, failing that, have the "entire table" option be the default.

There is no way to bypass the dialog box, and it doesn't appear that the dialog is even accessible via a macro. You can, however, use a macro to update all of the Tables of Contents in your document. Here is an example of such a macro, and it requires surprisingly few lines of code:

Sub UpdateAllTOCs()
    Dim t As TableOfContents

    For Each t In ActiveDocument.TablesOfContents
        t.Update
    Next t
End Sub

The macro steps through each of the TOCs in your document (the one that is currently active) and updates them. The .Update method updates the entire table, not just the page numbers. If, for some reason, you want the macro to update just page numbers, then you would use the .UpdatePageNumbers method instead.

One tangential benefit of the macro is that you don't need to be anywhere near the Tables of Contents in your document in order to update them. Run the macro, and it steps through each of them regardless of where they are in the document, without changing your position within the same document.

To make the macro more accessible, of course, you could assign it to a shortcut key or you could add it to your Quick Access Toolbar.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (10274) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021.

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. Learn more about Allen...

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