(adapted from a ‘Writing Tip’ email I recently sent to work colleagues [Word 2007 environment])
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Bottom line: Before releasing your document, turn off Track Changes then update the Table of Contents, List of Tables, and List of Figures so that they reflect the current headings, captions, and page numbers.
Some recent questions from my authors have related to updating the Table of Contents (TOC), List of Tables (LOT), and List of Figures (LOF), common things that can go wrong when doing so, and how to fix them.
1. Why does my Table of Contents look a mess?

In this example, the TOC entries are all in red and there’s a change bar to the right of the TOC. There’s also a deleted TOC below the inserted TOC. How did it get like this? You had Track Changes turned on when you updated the TOC.
To fix it, turn off Track Changes (Review tab), then update the TOC again (see below for how).
That’s it! Super easy with an immediate reduction in stress related to things going wrong with your document just before your deadline ;-)
2. Why aren’t the things I’ve added, changed or deleted reflected in the TOC/LOT/LOF?
The second issue relates to why the new tables/figures, sections etc. that you’ve added to the document aren’t appearing in the TOC/LOT/LOF, or why your changes or deletions aren’t reflected in the TOC/LOT/LOF. Typically, the reason is that you’ve forgotten to update the TOC/LOT/LOF – these lists don’t update automatically. There are several ways you can update these lists, but the safest way that seems to work properly every time, is to use the ‘Update Table’ buttons on the References tab in Word.
To update a TOC:
- Turn off Track Changes.
- Click anywhere inside the TOC.
- Go to the References tab.
- Go to the far left of that tab, and click the Update Table button in the Table of Contents group.
- If asked, select the option to Update entire table and click OK.

To update a LOT:
- Turn off Track Changes.
- Click anywhere inside the List of Tables.
- Go to the References tab.
- Go to the middle of that tab, and click the Update Table button in the Captions group.
- If asked, select the option to Update entire table and click OK.
To update a LOF: Same procedure as for updating a LOT, but for step 2, you click anywhere inside the List of Figures first.

3. Why aren’t all my tables/figures listed even though I’ve updated the lists using the methods above?
This issue invariably relates to Track Changes. If you’ve inserted or deleted a table or figure, then it’s possible that the table or figure caption won’t get listed in the LOT/LOF. Dealing with the table/figure Track Changes by accepting/rejecting them usually sorts this out. After accepting/rejecting the change, update the LOT/LOF and all should be well again. I haven’t found any other way of solving this one.
4. I get an ‘Error! Reference not found’ message in the TOC/LOT/LOF instead of a page number.
I’m not sure what causes this, but turning off Track Changes and updating the TOC/LOT/LOF should fix it.