Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 13, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021
Sheldon writes architectural construction specifications. He has a set of a few hundred master files that he modifies for each building project. He inserts fields in each file that link to a separate file and extract common information, such as the project title, project number, issue date, etc. Each project directory has one of these source files. When Sheldon printed a document, all of the fields and links used to update automatically, as they should. Recently, though, this stopped working; he now has to manually update the fields before printing. The Word options are unchanged and still include "Update fields before printing", "Update linked data before printing", and "Update automatic links at open." Sheldon wonders how he can make the automatic updating work again.
As Sheldon assumes, the automatic updating should work, especially if you have Word configured as Sheldon does. However, this could be a particularly vexing problem to track down. Chances are good that it is due to some partial or complete document corrupting. While that is easy enough to track down if you are working with a single document file, it is much more complex if you are working with hundreds of files.
First, try to determine if all the fields fail to automatically update. In other words, if you have 30 fields in your document that pull information from other files (presumably with the INCLUDEFILE field), then check to see that all 30 of them are not updated. If they aren't, then it is likely that the problem is with the document containing the fields. If only some of them are not updated, then the likely problem is the file being referenced by the fields not being updated.
You'll also want to check to see if the problem is with all of your documents. Create a new, blank document and create, within it, several INCLUDEFILE fields that reference other files. Check to see if it updates automatically. If it does, then you have a strong indicator that the problem isn't with Word, but with your other document file.
Once you've narrowed down whether the problem is with the document containing the fields or the documents referenced by the fields, you can start to examine the problem documents. For those documents, go through the standard process for dealing with corrupted documents. (Copy everything except the final paragraph mark to a new, blank document. Use the new document in preference to the old document that may be corrupted.)
Hopefully these procedures will help you to narrow down the problem and, perhaps, eliminate it.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (13237) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021.
Do More in Less Time! Are you ready to harness the full power of Word 2013 to create professional documents? In this comprehensive guide you'll learn the skills and techniques for efficiently building the documents you need for your professional and your personal life. Check out Word 2013 In Depth today!
One of the most powerful and useful fields provided by Word is the SEQ field. This tip describes how you can use the ...
Discover MoreWord can automatically add captions to your figures. You can then reference those captions from within your document. If ...
Discover MoreIf you are creating a reference document of some type, you may want to include in the header of that document an ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)
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.
Visit the WordTips channel on YouTube
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Comments