How to Automatically Update All Fields in a Microsoft Word Document Before Printing

If you have written a massive 200-page technical manual in Microsoft Word filled with automated fields—like cross-references, Table of Contents page numbers, dynamic dates, and formula results—you must ensure every single piece of data is accurate before you hit print. Manually right-clicking and updating hundreds of individual fields scattered across the document is impossible and guarantees you will miss something. Instead, you can use a hidden global shortcut to force Word to instantly recalculate and update every single field in the entire document simultaneously.

The Danger of Static Fields

When you insert a dynamic field (like “Page X of Y”), Microsoft Word calculates the number at the exact moment you insert it. If you later delete 50 pages of text, that field does not automatically update in real-time. It will still incorrectly display the old page count until you explicitly tell the software to recalculate the math. Printing a document with broken fields looks incredibly unprofessional.

How to Update All Fields Instantly

To update the fields, you must first select the entire document.

1. Open your Microsoft Word document.
2. Press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + A (or Cmd + A on a Mac). This will instantly highlight every single word, table, and image in your document, turning the screen gray.
3. With the entire document highlighted, press the F9 key on your keyboard. (On some laptops, you may need to press Fn + F9).

The exact moment you press F9, the screen will flash. Microsoft Word will instantly scan through all 200 pages, locate every single dynamic field, and force it to recalculate based on the current state of the document. Page numbers will shift, dates will update to the current day, and cross-references will automatically correct themselves.

Automating the Process

If you frequently forget to press F9 before printing, you can force Microsoft Word to do it automatically every time you send a file to the printer.

1. Click on File in the top left corner, then select Options at the bottom of the menu.
2. In the left sidebar, click on Display.
3. Look under the “Printing options” section.
4. Check the box labeled Update fields before printing.
5. Click OK.

From now on, you never have to worry about broken data. The exact second you click “Print,” Word will automatically run a global F9 update in the background, guaranteeing your physical copy is flawless.