Is there a Keyboard-Shortcut for updating all fields, tocs and indexes in MS Word 2011 Mac OS X?

I know it's possible to have MS Word 2011 update all fields before printing a document but I would like to be able to update the fields whenever I feel the need to. Is there a keyboard short cut for this for MS Word 2011 on Mac OS X?

TJ.

Posted 2012-12-30T00:50:04.940

Reputation: 303

Answers

You can update all fields in a document by:

selecting all of the content (Cmd+A) and then
pressing F9.

This will update all fields at once on Word for Mac 2011-2016.

Adam

Posted 2012-12-30T00:50:04.940

Reputation: 6 454

2With Word for Mac 2011, F9 does not update fields in the header/footer unless the field is actually selected, which requires opening the footer manually. If the document has multiple sections, it's not possible to select all the footers at once. In this situation, using Command-P followed by Esc as in @JustinSmith's answer is ideal. – Christian Conkle – 2016-01-10T20:40:53.557

1Works also for MS Word 16(.9.1) – Michael – 2018-02-10T19:21:50.540

3this only works SOMETIMES in Word 16 (??!??!?!?!??) the suggestion elsewhere about <mbd>cmd</kbd> + <kbd>p</kbd>, <kbd>Esc</kbd> (opening the print dialog and canceling) is correct for me now in Word 16 – Michael – 2018-02-12T23:20:41.520

7In MS Word for Mac OS X one also has to select everything before hitting F9 in order to update everything. Pressing F9 with nothing selected will have no effect. – TJ. – 2013-01-02T11:22:13.877

@TJ, Thanks for this clarification, it appears my memory was incorrect :) – Adam – 2013-01-02T11:28:11.467

I know this answer seems to be implied in the question, but I think it's the best answer and should be listed (the fact that other answers even are given implies that it is being overlooked).

[Command + P] followed by [Esc]

Advantages:

This is faster than the select-all method (same number of commands, fewer keys)
Fields in headers and footers are also updated (not accomplished by select-all method)

So in conclusion: no, there's no specific single shortcut to update all fields, and the alternatives are not superior to [Command + P] [Esc].

Justin Smith

Posted 2012-12-30T00:50:04.940

Reputation: 161

4This is the correct answer in MS Word 2016. Cmd+P brings up the print dialog, which apparently forces all fields to update. – Jason – 2017-02-06T22:18:33.377

Using F9 didn't work for me, running MS Word 2011 on a Macbook Pro with 10.8.4.

An alternative solution I found is to select all the text using command-A and then press command-shift-option-U. You can find that keyboard shortcut by control-clicking on the field and looking for "update field" in the menu.

Beckett Sterner

Posted 2012-12-30T00:50:04.940

Reputation: 91

2Have you tried FN+F9? – TJ. – 2013-07-15T06:46:27.427

Similar situation - I've tried all the meta keys I can think of with F9, and it does nothing. Select-all and command-shift-option-U works. (EDIT: sometimes, anyway) – mo-seph – 2013-07-26T10:59:05.707

In Mac Word 2011, OS X Yosemite, the cmd-P, Esc did not update the cross-references in the footnotes.

To do both main body and footnote, I first placed my cursor in main-body, select All (cmd-A), update fields (Opt+Cmd+Shift+U), click OK when notified this can't be undone.

Then, I placed my cursor in any footnote area, repeated the select-All and update fields process.

Now my cross references are updated in both the main body and the footnotes.

henryaz

Posted 2012-12-30T00:50:04.940

Reputation: 111

BTW - footnote numbers may be incorrect if you have track changes ON and you have deleted footnotes. The solution is to accept the changes so that the footnote numbers are updated. – henryaz – 2016-03-05T19:37:23.587

Thanks for the edits, Mikey. Looks a lot nicer and reads more easily. – henryaz – 2016-03-11T19:41:49.093

MS Word for Mac 2011

Command+A (select all fields in document)

Option+Command+Shift+U (to update all fields highlighted)

David Blankenship

Posted 2012-12-30T00:50:04.940

Reputation: 11

There is a button in Step 2 of the Mail Merge Manager that looks like an envelope with arrows pointing right and down. Its description says "Fill in the items to complete your document."

While madly clicking because I was angry that there was no Update All Fields button, I discovered that this button does the same thing as Update All Fields. My problem is that I forget that every time I have to use the software, which in my case is only a few times per year.

I'll keep my Microsoft opinions to myself. :)

Debbie

Posted 2012-12-30T00:50:04.940

Reputation: 1