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Step-by-step Header Fix for Index Update

One way to correct Word’s somewhat cavalier treatment of User Headers is described in the main article. The description of it, despite my best efforts, is hard to read, so I have put together this step-by-step pictorial guide.

Earlier in the main article there is a picture of a trivial Document with an Index. Here is what it looks like now, with a couple of amendments, in Print Layout View.

Part of the sample Document in Print layout View

I have added a couple of Page Breaks so that the Index is now on Page 4, and there is an empty Page 5. I have also inserted some Headers with Page Numbers. You can see that Pages 4 and 5 have different Headers. Page 4 is in Section 1 before the Index, and Page 5 is in Section 3 after the Index.

The first thing to do is to copy and save the first Section Break in the Index. For this it is best to be in Draft (Normal) View.

Part of the Document in Draft View: Selecting the Section Break

I did suggest, in the main article, to use AutoText, but AutoText has been subsumed into the new Building Blocks in Word 2007, so Building Blocks, of some type, are what you need to use instead. Autotexts do still exist but they are not available directly via the User Interface. Quick Parts offer a rough equivalent so, in this Word 2007 example, I am going to use Quick Parts. If you are using Word 2003 (or earlier) you can use Autotexts as they were, via Tools > Autotext > AutoText...

Selecting Quick Parts from the Insert tab on the Ribbon

If you already have some Quick Parts defined in your environment, you will see some of them in a Gallery above the Menu, but if you already have some, you will know all about that. When you click on the “Save Selection” menu item, you will get a dialogue to save the Selection as a Quick Part:

The Create Quick Parts Dialog Box

Although I will tidy up my own environment when I have finished this demonstration, you may not be so dedicated so it is a good idea to create this so that it will be recognisable in the future. Call it “Section Break 1”, and create a new Category called “Temporary” to put it in.

Filling in the details of a Quick Part

Then just click OK

Creating the Quick Part

Now you have the Section Break saved away, you can update the Index Field. Just right click on it ..

The Index about to be updated

.. and, when you click on “Update Field”, Word will work its magic. Switch back, temporarily, to Print Layout View.

The Index (and the Header) after the update

You can see here that the Index has been updated (note the changed page numbers) and the Page Header on Page 4 in Section 1 now has the Header that used to be on Page 5 in Section 3. Although not shown here, Page 5 in Section 3 still has that Header as well. It was not necessary to switch to Print Layout View; it was merely so that you could see what had happened.

The next thing to do is easier if you return to Draft View. When there, select the first Section Break and click on Quick Parts again (on the Insert tab of the Ribbon).

About to bring the Quick Section Break back

This time, the Quick Parts Gallery should show the Section Break you saved earlier, and all you have to do is click on it for the Quick Part to be inserted right over the existing Section Break you have selected.

All that's really left to do is to switch back to Print Layout View to confirm that your Page Headers have, indeed, all been put back where they belong.

All is right with the world.

That’s it! Back to the boring reading again.Back to the boring reading again. [link to back to the possible solution at IndexUpdate.php#PossibleSolution].