Word: Update all fields

I found a simple macro to update all fields with a single click.



For some documents, you might want a quick way to update all the fields. The most logical way might be to press CTRL+a to select everything, then F9 to update all the fields. But this will miss any fields in headers or footnotes. In fact, Word updates all fields, no matter where they are, before you print. That also applies to a print preview. In recent versions of Word, that means as soon as you go to the Print tab in the file menu because there is a print preview that comes up without any further action.



But this is at least three clicks every time I want to update all the fields! So, like so much else I want Word to do, there’s a macro for that. I found this one in the comments here: http://www.technotaste.com/blog/word-macro-update-all-fields/

Here it is:
Sub UpdateFields()
ActiveDocument.PrintPreview
ActiveDocument.ClosePrintPreview
End Sub

Just open the V.B.A. editor (Developer>Visual Basic), and paste that in.



 

The line Sub UpdateFields() is the name of the macro, so just change UpdateFields to the name of your choice. Then, you can create a keyboard shortcut or a button to run the macro. I’ve placed a button in the QuickAccess Toolbar with an icon that has two black curved arrows making a circle. (Word’s icons are not the best, but I don’t fool around with them to find the perfect icon.) I also like to delete the introductory Normal.Module1. in this dialog.