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I was completing a 28 page Word document , did the F9 update and got "Error! Bookmark not defined." with no text at all. How do I recover?

Tim Wyse 5 Reputation points
2025-12-03T00:41:08.8866667+00:00

The file size still shows 1744 KB but there are only two pages and no text. Did I lose a week's worth of work or is there a way to recover the content?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For business | Windows
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Answer recommended by moderator

Jay Freedman 207.7K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2025-12-03T02:29:15.4966667+00:00

This symptom (file size says all the characters are present but no text appears in the document) most likely occurs if you select the whole document (Ctrl+A) and then, intending only to press F9 to update the fields, accidentally press Ctrl along with F9. The result is that the entire text of the document is now enclosed in a pair of field braces.

Because the field doesn't start with a valid keyword, Word assumes that the field is defaulting to a REF field, but the text doesn't start with the name of an existing bookmark -- thus the "Error! Bookmark not defined" field result.

To fix this:

  • Press Alt+F9 to display the field code instead of the field result. You should see a pair of bold braces { } surrounding the text of the entire document.
  • Carefully click to the right of the opening brace. Scroll to the end of the document (use the scroll bar, not the arrow keys), and hold the Shift key while you click to the left of the closing brace. You should now have selected everything except the two braces. If the braces get selected, start this step again.
  • Cut the selection to the clipboard.
  • Move the cursor to the right of the closing brace, press Enter, and paste the clipboard contents into the new paragraph.
  • Select the empty pair of braces and delete them.
  • Press Alt+F9 once more to return all fields to their results instead of their codes.

Your document will now be as it was before the errant Ctrl+F9. You can do a proper Ctrl+A and (only) F9 to update the fields.

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-12-03T01:07:29.9966667+00:00

    Dear @Tim Wyse, Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A forum. We are happy to assist.

    "Error! Bookmark not defined.” usually appears after F9 (Update fields) when a field (TOC, cross‑reference, index, etc.) points to a bookmark that no longer exists. The file size suggests the content may still be present or recoverable. Try the steps below to see if the issue persist:

    Turn on Show Book Marks

    In Word, File > Options > Advanced > Check the "Show bookmarks" box under "Show document content" tab.

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    Check that the referenced bookmarks exist and are correctly spelled; re‑insert any missing bookmarks and update the field again.

    Unlink Fields in Your Table of Contents

    If you still see “Error! bookmark not defined” on your Word document, you can unlink the fields in the table of contents and see whether the error disappears.

    1. With the Show Bookmarks setting enabled in Word Options, highlight the table of contents.

    Press Ctrl + Shift + F9 keys on your keyboard to unlink the fields and check whether the error is still there or not.

    If text appears “gone,” recover previous content

    In Word, go to File > Info > Manage Document > Recover Unsaved Documents.

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    I hope this information is helpful. If you need any further assistance, please feel free to reach out. We are here to help. Thank you very much for your understanding and cooperation.

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