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Table of Contents using \t

Hi

I have a document with many components - each component has 3 levels of headings and I've created tables of contents for those using \b and bookmarks, which work exactly as they should. I'm not trying to create a table of contents of each of these chapters.

I've created new quick styles for the chapter headings, and have created a ToC using \t. The table of contents is generated and the hyperlinks work - all appears as I'd like, but the hyperlinks are absolute or static links; whereas the rest of the ToC's are relative.

What I mean by that is when I mouse-over the \b ToC's, I see the usual "Current Document" tool-tip I would expect to see, and renaming the document or saving as PDF maintains this hyperlink. When I mouse-over the \t ToC, I see a tool-tip that reads "file:///c:\ etc.", pointing towards the file I'm working on. The link therefore works, provided I don't rename or move the file. It also maintains that specific link as a PDF, which is very problematic.

Please could you advise?

The following are examples of the switches I'm using:
{TOC \n \z \h \t "Section Heading,1,SubSection Heading,2,SHEQ Component,3"}
vs
{TOC \o "1-2" \h \z \u \b QMSManual}

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After you renamed the document, update the TOC: Place the insertion point inside it and press F9. Choose the option to update the whole TOC. Does that fix the issue with the hyperlinks?
Stefan Blom
MS 365 Word MVP since 2005
Volunteer Moderator
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Thanks Stefan

If I move or rename the file and update the TOC, it links it to the current file, but the link remains static - i.e. pdf'ing it will leave it pointing to the old word doc - which is where I'm really struggling.

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I can't reproduce this at all. Would you like to share an example document which exhibits the problem you are describing? You can upload the document to SkyDrive, make it public, and post a link here.

Stefan Blom
MS 365 Word MVP since 2005
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MS 365, Win 11 Pro
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Note that I do not work for Microsoft
https://mvp.microsoft.com/
~~~
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Hi Stefan,

I've cut out most of the content, leaving a skeleton for you to play with. https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=EFA20C173C60F3CB!130&authkey=!APxoyGD5IRNHLaY

You can imagine the full document having many sections and subsections. The ToC's of each subsection use \b o "1-3" switches and work perfectly, but the section TOC's that don't use the default Word headings 1-9  need to use the \t switch and they are causing the problem for me.

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If you haven't already done so, go to File | Options | Advanced: Web Options | Files and clear the check box for "Update links on save."

 

Microsoft MVP (Word) since 1999
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Thanks Suzanne

I did see that as a potential solution on another thread, but no luck.

Incidentally, I also tried modifying headers 5-7 to match my custom heading styles so that I could use /o "5-7" instead of /t, but it did not make a difference.

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OK, I see no problems as long as I keep the document in Word format. Converting to PDF doesn't work properly, though.
Stefan Blom
MS 365 Word MVP since 2005
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MS 365, Win 11 Pro
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https://mvp.microsoft.com/
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Hi Stephan

Unfortunately the file also cannot be moved without the reader updating the fields each time, which shouldn't be necessary if the ToC were referring to current document rather than the last saved location. Being able to PDF the document is absolutely necessary, so as toucan imagine I'm really quite desperate for a solution or a workaround.

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The updating is something you can't get around in Word; that's true. Setting the option to update fields on print will be helpful (File tab | Options | Display: "Update fields before printing").

The incorrect hyperlinks after PDF conversion suggest a bug, but whether Microsoft considers it a bug I do not know.

Stefan Blom
MS 365 Word MVP since 2005
Volunteer Moderator
MS 365, Win 11 Pro
~~~
Note that I do not work for Microsoft
https://mvp.microsoft.com/
~~~
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I've got exactly the issue.

Is there any solution yet?

To narrow it down:

I'm experiencing this behaviour with a table of figures. Most figures are linked correctly to the current document but there are some, that are linked to the concrete file which yields the same PDF issues, Boris described.

The difference is the layout text wrapping: Those figures that are linked correctly are "in line with text". Those that aren't working are "square".

I could edited the layout, but I need to have the text float around the images. So what to do? :(

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Last updated April 14, 2025 Views 1,006 Applies to: