I have a single section document in Word 2013. The first page is a TOC. The document is 4 pages long and has three Level 1 Heading styles through out the document. The TOC initially appears correct. When I go to Print Preview the TOC will revert all page numbers to 2. Changing the Options "Update fields before printing" and "Allow fields containing tracked changes to update before printing" has no effect (before anyone suggests this). The only solution is to manually update the TOC, save to PDF, and print the PDF. Anyone can reproduce this problem. Try it.... Start with blank document Insert a TOC (ignore the error message, we will come back to this) Go to the end of the document and insert a page break to move to page 2 Now type a heading in Heading 1 style and press enter type some dummy text (=rand(20) for example) Continue steps 4 and 5 to insert more headings and dummy text. Now return to the top (page 1) and update the TOC So far so good. Everything working well Now go to Print Preview (Ctrl+P) Everything is still good Escape back to the document Go to Print Preview again AGGGHHHH ! All the page numbers have reverted to page 2 Happens every time without fail. Totally reproducible on all our office PCs. I have seen many descriptions of this behavior on different forums and not one solution. But I am like the proverbial dog with a bone - I will not let this issue go until MS gives me a solution !

Just to be clear, if you right-click a TOC field which is locked, you should see the Update command greyed out. Are you saying that the command is greyed out but the field updates anyway? In that case, something is definitely wrong.

Not so unusual I think - eg print the document, not happy with it, do a bit more work on it and print it again? I don't think this is an unusual situation. The problem will occur if you try to print the document more than once at any time in that session. Only fix is to manually update, then close document and reopen.

In your original post, you caused this effect by doing a Print Preview, closing it and immediately doing another Print Preview. I imagine few people do that exact sequence, so it isn't a problem for most people.

Thanks Stefan Excellent suggestion, and I had already considered this. I also considered Shift + Ctrl + F9 to completely unlink the fields. Interestingly Ctrl + F11 does not work in this scenario. The field updates in Print Preview even when locked !!! Shift + Ctrl + F9 works, but our documents are quite dynamic (ie we change the content frequently), so this is a pain. I still cant understand how this is not a massive problem for Word users out there. Everyone who I ask to try this has the same problem. Why is there no outcry to MS that TOCs do not work? Am I the only one using TOCs ??????? EDIT - Locking the fields with Ctrl F (as suggestion by Stefan) does work . Ignore the above rant as I was not locking the field correctly.

Thanks for the update. Note that you can do the following, as a (temporary) workaround: After editing is completed, update the TOC field and then lock it. To lock fields in the selection, use Ctrl+F11. (If you want to unlock selected fields, use Ctrl+Shift+F11.)

Word 2013 Table of contents - page numbers all change to 2 when print (or print preview)

Anonymous

I have a single section document in Word 2013. The first page is a TOC. The document is 4 pages

long and has three Level 1 Heading styles through out the document. The TOC initially appears correct.

When I go to Print Preview the TOC will revert all page numbers to 2.

Changing the Options "Update fields before printing" and "Allow fields containing tracked changes to update before printing" has no effect (before anyone suggests this).

The only solution is to manually update the TOC, save to PDF, and print the PDF.

Anyone can reproduce this problem. Try it....

Start with blank document
Insert a TOC (ignore the error message, we will come back to this)
Go to the end of the document and insert a page break to move to page 2
Now type a heading in Heading 1 style and press enter
type some dummy text (=rand(20) for example)
Continue steps 4 and 5 to insert more headings and dummy text.
Now return to the top (page 1) and update the TOC
So far so good. Everything working well
Now go to Print Preview (Ctrl+P)
Everything is still good
Escape back to the document
Go to Print Preview again
AGGGHHHH! All the page numbers have reverted to page 2
Happens every time without fail. Totally reproducible on all our office PCs.

I have seen many descriptions of this behavior on different forums and not one solution. But I am like the proverbial dog with a bone - I will not let this issue go until MS gives me a solution !

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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44 answers

Stefan Blom 353.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2015-03-29T22:18:31+00:00

Just to be clear, if you right-click a TOC field which is locked, you should see the Update command greyed out. Are you saying that the command is greyed out but the field updates anyway? In that case, something is definitely wrong.
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Anonymous

2015-03-29T16:38:25+00:00

Not so unusual I think - eg print the document, not happy with it, do a bit more work on it and print it again? I don't think this is an unusual situation.

The problem will occur if you try to print the document more than once at any time in that session. Only fix is to manually update, then close document and reopen.
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John Korchok 236.3K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2015-03-29T15:46:57+00:00

In your original post, you caused this effect by doing a Print Preview, closing it and immediately doing another Print Preview. I imagine few people do that exact sequence, so it isn't a problem for most people.
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Anonymous

2015-03-29T10:39:38+00:00

Thanks Stefan

Excellent suggestion, and I had already considered this. I also considered Shift + Ctrl + F9 to completely unlink the fields.

Interestingly Ctrl + F11 does not work in this scenario. The field updates in Print Preview even when locked !!!

Shift + Ctrl + F9 works, but our documents are quite dynamic (ie we change the content frequently), so this is a pain.

I still cant understand how this is not a massive problem for Word users out there. Everyone who I ask to try this has the same problem. Why is there no outcry to MS that TOCs do not work? Am I the only one using TOCs ???????

EDIT - Locking the fields with Ctrl F (as suggestion by Stefan) does work. Ignore the above rant as I was not locking the field correctly.
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Stefan Blom 353.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2015-03-26T19:27:50+00:00

Thanks for the update.

Note that you can do the following, as a (temporary) workaround: After editing is completed, update the TOC field and then lock it.

To lock fields in the selection, use Ctrl+F11. (If you want to unlock selected fields, use Ctrl+Shift+F11.)
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