MS Word: There is no table of content to update, though there is
I have a document which requires precise page numbering, formatting etc. through different sections. (I'm really not used to do that kind of things.)
One problem is: Table of content is not updating.
I inserted a Table of Contents from the References tab. It's generated with default values. When I click on the "Update table" button associated with the table, I get the message
There is no table of contents to update. You can insert on from the References tab.
If I clik on the other button and then on "Remove Table of Contents", it removed the "Table of Content" (one might have expected something like "There is no Table of Content to remove", but no...)
I though that maybe this happens because I placed it in a different document "Section" than where the Headings 1 (so far the only Headings in the document are "Heading 1") so I tried inserting my Table of Contents in the same "section" but behaviour is still the same.
How do I get my Table of Content to update?
(Document cannot be transferred.)
24 Answers
I had the exact same problem for a while. The only workaround I found was to insert a new Table of Contents just below the existing one using the "Classic" template. Wouldn't work with any other template.
Will be annoying to reformat to the style I want but better than manually filling in the whole table.
2I had this problem also but if you click on the table itself a border appears around it and a small dialog box at the top with an "Update Table" option
I also have this issue. Instead of using the (very convenient, tantalising) button in the Ribbon, I right click somewhere inside the Table of Contents and choose "Update Field" in the context menu. It asks if you just want to update the page numbers or the whole table, and then click "OK" and it will update. I have tried using one of the built-in options like Classic, etc but even then, the button doesn't work, nor does the little box option around the TOC. Using "Update Field" works with the built-in templates or a custom TOC.
Move TOC to the very beginning of the document. it will work then.
1