Table of Contents doesn’t work in Word

Here’s a common problem with MS Word.

For some unknown reason, the Table of Contents (which was there this morning) is now gone.

When you look at the page in Word, you might see this error message:

{ TOC\O "2-4"\H \Z \T "HEADING 1,1"}

What’s going on?

In general, the problem is to do with Field Codes.

Here are a few suggestions to change it back to the way it should be.

1. In Word, go to Tools > Options > View tab and click off Field Codes (if this is selected) or

2. Close Word.

2.1 In Windows Explorer, search for Normal.dot.

(Note, it is Normal.dot not Normal.doc you want to find. This is the template that controls Word’s formatting etc)

2.2 Delete all copies of Normal.dot!

2.3 Open Word. It will automatically re-create a new Normal.dot, which may be the correct default settings or.

3. Click Tools, Options, Print tab, and then clear the Field codes check box.

Any problems, let me know.

Ivan