Table of Contents replaced with random text

Question

Table of Contents replaced with random text

Giraffe20 210

For some reason my table of contents is now displaying this:

Screenshot 2026-07-20 135147

I assume that's a "code" that instructs Word what the table should look like—TOC with headings 1 and 2. It also appears whenever I insert a new one or open a previous version of a document.

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Answer 1

DaveM121 933.1K Independent Advisor

You seem to have field codes showing in Word.

Press Alt + F9 or Alt + Fn + F9 to hide field codes.

Or

Go to File - Options - Advanced.

In the Show document content section and un-check 'Show field codes instead of their values'.

Giraffe20 210 Reputation points

2026-07-20T13:38:09.4866667+00:00

Thanks! That must have happened while I was checking which keyboard shortcuts were unused when I was creating some in Word.