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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?

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6 Answers 6

Reset to default
15

You can update all fields in a document by:

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

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

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  • 7
    In 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.
    – T. Junghans
    Jan 2, 2013 at 11:22
  • @TJ, Thanks for this clarification, it appears my memory was incorrect :)
    – Adam
    Jan 2, 2013 at 11:28
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    With 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
    Jan 10, 2016 at 20:40
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    Works also for MS Word 16(.9.1)
    – Michael
    Feb 10, 2018 at 19:21
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    this 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
    Feb 12, 2018 at 23:20
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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:

  1. This is faster than the select-all method (same number of commands, fewer keys)
  2. 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].

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    This is the correct answer in MS Word 2016. Cmd+P brings up the print dialog, which apparently forces all fields to update.
    – Jason
    Feb 6, 2017 at 22:18
  • as far as i tried, Ctrl + P doesn't work to "Refresh to New Picture" picture when using FieldCode for IncludePicture from internet. Only Ctrl+A and F9 refreshes to new random picture from the internet url for example.
    – ihightower
    Sep 24, 2020 at 16:40
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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.

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    Have you tried FN+F9?
    – T. Junghans
    Jul 15, 2013 at 6:46
  • 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
    Jul 26, 2013 at 10:59
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MS Word for Mac 2011

Command+A (select all fields in document)

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

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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.

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  • 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
    Mar 5, 2016 at 19:37
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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. :)

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