Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Inserting a Cross-Reference to Text.

Inserting a Cross-Reference to Text

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated February 4, 2017)

2

Word allows you to insert the text of cross-references in the following manner:

  1. Select the text you want to be cross-referenced.
  2. Assign this text a bookmark name.
  3. Position the insertion point where you want the cross-reference to appear.
  4. Press Ctrl+F9 to insert field brackets. Make sure the insertion point stays between the brackets.
  5. Type ref followed by the name of the bookmark used in step 2.
  6. Press F9 to update the field information. Word replaces the field with the text to which the bookmark was assigned.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (11432) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Inserting a Cross-Reference to Text.

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. ...

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What is eight minus 5?

2017-04-02 09:51:54

Moray

Torgrim, this is handy when you want to refer to something mentioned elsewhere in the document, and that something isn't a heading and isn't numbered. Mark that something, your target, as a bookmark, then use the steps above to refer to it. Or you can use Insert > Reference, choose Bookmark in the dialog, and choose the bookmark name you've added. Cheers

2017-02-06 06:53:34

Torgrim

What is the use for this? When/for which tasks would you use this?

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