index in word will not update

Question

index in word will not update

Rita McCrea 25

I have tried to update within the index by highlighting the index and under references clicking update index.

I have tried highlighting the index; right clicking and selecting update field

I have tried doing CNTRL A then press F9

None of these options work. can you offer any other suggestions

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Answer 1

Hendrix 990 Independent Advisor

Hi Rita,

Based on your sharing, since you’ve already tried the usual update methods, the next step I suggest is to check whether Word is actually treating that section as a real INDEX field or whether the field is locked:

First, click anywhere inside the index and press Alt + F9 (or Alt + Fn + F9). You should see something like { INDEX ... }. If you do not see an { INDEX ... } field code, the “index” may just be plain typed text or pasted text and Word will not update it since it has nothing to update.
The index field may be locked. Click inside the index and press Ctrl + Shift + F11. After that, try F9 or References > Update Index again.
Go to Home tab > select ¶ Show/Hide then look through the document for entries like { XE "example" }. Word uses these XE fields to generate and update the index. If the XE fields are missing, the index may not update because there are no marked entries for Word to collect.

You can give it a try and let me know the outcome. If you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out in the comments of this post. I'll be happy to assist you further.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. Hope to hear from you soon.

If the answer is helpful, please click "Yes" and kindly upvote it.

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Jay Freedman 208.2K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-08-14T17:28:16.4966667+00:00

If the XE fields still exist in the body of the document, it's possible that the Index field has been converted to plain text (in Word jargon, the field has been "unlinked") and is no longer a field.

The solution for that is to delete the existing index and then use the References > Insert Index command to recreate it.
Rita McCrea 25 Reputation points

2026-08-14T22:30:59.9966667+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion, but, the page 3's still don't match the actual. Also when I replaced the index I lost the A B C separation. Any thoughts
Rita McCrea 25 Reputation points

2026-08-14T22:43:14.3366667+00:00

When I tried the (or Alt + Fn + F9). I lost both the Table of Contents and the Index and when I try to enter a new one I get nothing that makes sense
Stefan Blom 351.1K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-08-14T22:55:33.5933333+00:00

Alt+F9 is a toggle. What do you see when you press it the first time? If you see something similar to { INDEX } in place of the index, then you do have an active INDEX field in the document. (The field may be locked if it resists updating.)
Hendrix 990 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-08-14T23:04:29.16+00:00

Hi Rita,

When you press Alt + Fn + F9, Word toggles from field results to field codes which can make the TOC and index look like they disappeared but they are usually just showing their underlying codes like { TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u } or { INDEX \e " " \h "A" \c "2" \z "1033" }.

You can bring it back by pressing the same key combination again. If you truly lost content, use Undo. You can press Ctrl+Z repeatedly until you get back your content. It will work for as long as you don't close the document.

For the best possible assistance, can you share a screenshot of what you saw when you first press Alt + Fn + F9?
Rita McCrea 25 Reputation points

2026-08-17T15:04:24.7733333+00:00

Thanks I did get it back and the index is now updating
Stefan Blom 351.1K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-08-17T17:33:03.0933333+00:00

@Rita McCrea

Is the problem now resolved? Would you mind telling us, briefly, how you fixed it?
Hendrix 990 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-08-17T23:39:50.7733333+00:00

Hi Rita,

Thank you for your update.

I'm glad to know your concern has been well-resolved now. I really appreciate if you can share how you went about it.

If you have any concerns or need further assistance in the future, please don’t hesitate to reach out again. Not only will I be happy to assist you, but all users and moderators in the Q&A forum will also do their best to provide support and guidance.

Wishing you a wonderful day ahead.
Rita McCrea 25 Reputation points

2026-08-18T14:16:41.5566667+00:00

Yes this worked the second time I did it
Rita McCrea 25 Reputation points

2026-08-18T14:19:13.7566667+00:00

I followed Hendrix advice with Alt + Fn + F9 After I did it twice it worked
Stefan Blom 351.1K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-08-18T16:46:37.6266667+00:00

Thanks for the follow-up.