Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007 and 2010. 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: Updating Document Links.

Updating Document Links

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 13, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 2007 and 2010

Normally, if you have linked information in your document, the information is updated whenever you open the document. There may be times when you need to update the links manually, however. You do this by following these steps if you are using Word 2007:

Click the Office button and then click Prepare.
Click Edit Links to Files. (If this option is not available, it means that Word doesn't think there are any links in the current document.) Word displays the Links dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Links dialog box.

Select the link you want to update.
Click on Update Now.

If you are using Word 2010 the process is a bit different:

Display the File tab of the ribbon.
Click Info and then click Edit Links to Files. (If this option is not available, it means that Word doesn't think there are any links in the current document.) Word displays the Links dialog box.
Select the link you want to update.
Click on Update Now.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (11517) applies to Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Updating Document Links.

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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