Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. 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: Automatically Referencing Info Entered in a Table.

Automatically Referencing Info Entered in a Table

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 25, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365

Kees has a table in a Word document. (This is a Word table, not an Excel table.) If he types a word in cell A1 he would like that word to automatically appear in cell E6 or, possibly, in a cell in an entirely different table.

There is no way, within Word, to have the word automatically appear in cell E6 as you type it; that is beyond the capabilities of the program. However, you could make sure that whatever is in cell A1 is duplicated in cell E6 by relying on bookmarks:

Select the word in cell A1. (Don't include the end-of-cell marker; just select the word itself.)
Press Shift+Ctrl+F5. Word displays the Bookmark dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Bookmark dialog box.

Enter a name for your bookmark, such as FirstWord (note that there are no spaces in the name).
Click on Add. Word Adds the bookmark.
Move to cell E6 or whatever cell you want to have the word appear.
Insert a field by pressing Ctrl+F9.
Within the field, type REF FirstWord (if you created a bookmark with a different name in step 4, use that name instead of FirstWord).
Press F9 to update the field.

Remember that fields are automatically updated when you print your document or when you manually update them (as described in other issues of WordTips). You should also understand that if someone modifies the text in cell A1, that it is possible the bookmark you defined in step 4 will be deleted. If this happens, the only solution is to recreate the bookmark.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (12127) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Automatically Referencing Info Entered in a Table.

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...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Displaying a Set Column Range

Do you want to display a particular range of columns within the Excel window? Here's a couple ways you can accomplish the ...

Discover More

Forcing Editing to Be Done in a Cell

Excel allows you to edit your cell contents in two places. What if you want to limit where editing occurs, so it can only ...

Discover More

The Line that Won't Go Away

Have you ever had a line appear on your document that you can't seem to get rid of? It could be due to a built-in ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2021 or Microsoft 365. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word Step by Step today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Printing a Bookmark List

Need to know what bookmarks are defined in a document? Here's a macro that creates a list of all your bookmarks so that ...

Discover More

Reusing a Bookmark

Bookmarks in Word are just like bookmarks used in paper books, any given bookmark may be reused to mark a new location. ...

Discover More

Setting a VBA Variable from a Bookmark

Bookmarks are quite helpful in a document. You may want to transfer the contents of a bookmark into a macro variable in ...

Discover More

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.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is two minus 0?

2024-05-26 15:05:19

Tomek

You can use this approach anywhere in the document. The source and the target need not be in tables.

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.