Word - reference, caption, cross reference problem

Question

Word - reference, caption, cross reference problem

gid 26

I have been working on a long document of 400+ pages (190MB) with many visuals and tables. I have been using <insert caption> to add captions and to generate a table of figures/plans/tables etc. to insert at the beginning. For some reason although the old captions on figures and the initial table that I generated from them are still there I can't add any new ones. I have to start over with names and numbering and when I try to add a cross-reference in text none of the previous captions and/or their numbers show up. I am trying to fix this if possible but not sure how - I was wondering if it could be an issue with an update of the program or the comp itself that these older entries got lost.

Emily Hua-MSFT 27,796 Reputation points

2020-08-28T07:30:18.91+00:00

@gid ,
Is there any update? If yes, please let us know.
gid 26 Reputation points

2020-08-28T20:47:54.693+00:00

Hi Emily
Thank you for posting the suggestions.
I did as you wrote - Reference->insert caption->new label
As long as I wrote the new labels exactly as the old ones it worked.
Once cross-reference was open all the old captions under the rewritten labels (Fig. 3. x or Plan 4. x etc.) showed up as a list.
Your questions:
I did not edit it in another computer.
I am using Word for Mac 16.39.
I didn't get the last question?

Thanks again!
Pal Terek 1 Reputation point

2021-12-18T11:14:00.517+00:00

Hi, I had a similar problem with office 365, which happened after the last update somewhere around 11.2021 or so. I solved the problem.
Actually I had this problem with most documents that I previously prepared with Word in last year. Reinserting the label with the same name didnt worked for me, it just made double references with the same name. But when I , in only one document, **inserted the table of figure****s**, the option Insert cross-reference started working properly. When I deleted the table of figures, it stayed OK. I didnt save this document, I just reopened it and it worked properly the Insert cross-reference option. This fixed the problem with all other documents.
So Microsoft Word application was in bug until I inserted one table of figures in one document!
Stefan Blom 2,781 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2021-12-18T14:17:16.25+00:00

Cross-references make use of bookmarks (hidden bookmarks created by Word). Note that you can select the target caption (or just its number) and insert a bookmark manually (Insert tab > Links group > Bookmark). Then create a cross-reference to the bookmark text.
Smith, Noah 1 Reputation point

2022-03-08T15:41:08.897+00:00

Thanks, this worked for me too. I had created some custom figure labels such as 'Figure B' for Figure B4 etc. Sometimes they seem to be missing from the dropdown menu in the cross-referencing dialogue or new caption dialogue, but like you say, once you add the new label again exactly as before, they're all back again :)

Accepted answer

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Emily Hua-MSFT 27,796 Reputation points

2020-08-28T07:30:18.91+00:00

@gid ,
Is there any update? If yes, please let us know.
gid 26 Reputation points

2020-08-28T20:47:54.693+00:00

Hi Emily
Thank you for posting the suggestions.
I did as you wrote - Reference->insert caption->new label
As long as I wrote the new labels exactly as the old ones it worked.
Once cross-reference was open all the old captions under the rewritten labels (Fig. 3. x or Plan 4. x etc.) showed up as a list.
Your questions:
I did not edit it in another computer.
I am using Word for Mac 16.39.
I didn't get the last question?

Thanks again!
Pal Terek 1 Reputation point

2021-12-18T11:14:00.517+00:00

Hi, I had a similar problem with office 365, which happened after the last update somewhere around 11.2021 or so. I solved the problem.
Actually I had this problem with most documents that I previously prepared with Word in last year. Reinserting the label with the same name didnt worked for me, it just made double references with the same name. But when I , in only one document, **inserted the table of figure****s**, the option Insert cross-reference started working properly. When I deleted the table of figures, it stayed OK. I didnt save this document, I just reopened it and it worked properly the Insert cross-reference option. This fixed the problem with all other documents.
So Microsoft Word application was in bug until I inserted one table of figures in one document!
Stefan Blom 2,781 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2021-12-18T14:17:16.25+00:00

Cross-references make use of bookmarks (hidden bookmarks created by Word). Note that you can select the target caption (or just its number) and insert a bookmark manually (Insert tab > Links group > Bookmark). Then create a cross-reference to the bookmark text.
Smith, Noah 1 Reputation point

2022-03-08T15:41:08.897+00:00

Thanks, this worked for me too. I had created some custom figure labels such as 'Figure B' for Figure B4 etc. Sometimes they seem to be missing from the dropdown menu in the cross-referencing dialogue or new caption dialogue, but like you say, once you add the new label again exactly as before, they're all back again :)

Answer 1

Hi gid-2669,

According to your description, I have some questions.
What version of Office are you using now? Please following the hyperlink article to check the version and version number.
Did you edit this document on a different computer from the computer where the document was created?
What do the codes after right-clicking caption and clicking Toggle field codes?

Please try the steps below to create new label for caption to have a check.

Back up this document first.
Select a caption of figure or others.
Go to Reference > Insert Caption > New Label.
Enter an new name, such as "Fig".
Make sure the new label is chosen for the caption, then click OK.
Go to Reference > Cross Reference > Select the inserted value from point 3 in the Reference type dropdown list, and then check this issue.

If the response is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.

Answer 2

Charles Kenyon 3,121 Volunteer Moderator

I suspect that your document has gone through some sort of conversion process.

If you go to your Table of Figures and press Alt+F9, what do you see? You should see a TOC field.
Press Alt+F9 to toggle the display back. If it showed a TOC field, my guess was wrong.

Otherwise, save a copy of your document and delete most of the copy, leaving one figure that is in the old Table of Figures, a new figure, and the Table of Figures. Save that to DropBox or OneDrive and share a link here so we can look at it.

Insert a Table of Figures]1

gid 26 Reputation points

2020-08-28T20:51:11.59+00:00

Thank you for the link!
This is very helpful for all the complex document issues - I wish I had seen it sooner.

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Word - reference, caption, cross reference problem

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