Word Automatic Tables

Lessons

Senior 3 · ICT

Word Automatic Tables

4 lessons

Lesson 3 of 4

Captions, a List of Figures and a List of Tables

40 min

“See Figure 4”, but which one?

Keza's geography project on rainfall in the Eastern Province has six maps and graphs and four tables. She numbered them by typing “Figure 1”, “Figure 2” and so on under each one, and wrote “see Figure 4” in her text. Her teacher asked for one more map near the start. Now every figure after it has the wrong number, and so does every “see Figure …” in the text.

Word's captions count for you. They number figures and tables in order, renumber them when one is added, feed a list of figures and a list of tables, and keep references in the text pointing at the right one.

Definition

Caption: a numbered label with a short description attached to a picture, chart, table or equation, such as “Figure 3: Monthly rainfall in Nyagatare”.

Label: the word that starts a caption and decides which series it is counted in: Figure, Table or Equation, or one you create, such as Map.

List of figures (Word calls it a table of figures): a list of every caption with one label, with page numbers, built automatically. A list built from the Table label is a list of tables.

Cross-reference: a reference in the text, such as “see Figure 3”, that Word keeps up to date when the numbering changes.

Inserting a caption

Click the picture, chart or table to select it. (For a table, click the small move handle at its top-left corner.)
References → Insert Caption, or right-click the item → Insert Caption…
In the dialog, choose the Label. The Caption box already shows the label and the next number, for example Figure 3. Type a colon and the description after it; do not change the number.
Choose the Position: Below selected item or Above selected item.
Click OK. The caption is added in the Caption style.

Mock-up drawn by Ganzaa of the dialog in Word for Microsoft 365. The number “3” is a field: Word counted the two Figure captions before it.

A common house style, used in many school and university reports, puts a figure's caption below it and a table's caption above it, because a reader looks at a picture first but reads a table's title first. Whatever you choose, be consistent.

Building the lists

Click where the list should go, usually on a new page straight after the table of contents. Type a heading such as “List of Figures”.
References → Insert Table of Figures.
Set Caption label to Figure. Keep Show page numbers, Right align page numbers and Include label and number ticked; choose a tab leader. Click OK.
For the list of tables, repeat on the next page with Caption label: Table.

Each list is a field, like the TOC. Update it the same way: click in it and press F9 (or right-click → Update Field), then choose page numbers only or the entire table. To refresh every field in the document at once, press Ctrl + A, then F9.

Change you made	Does Word renumber by itself?	What to do
Inserted a new caption with Insert Caption	Yes, the captions after it are renumbered	Update the lists and cross-references (Ctrl + A, F9)
Deleted or moved a figure and its caption	No	Ctrl + A, then F9, to renumber and update
Edited a caption's description	Not in the lists	Update the list: entire table

Worked example 1: inserting a figure in the middle

Keza's report has Figures 1 to 6. Her text says “see Figure 4”, typed by hand in one place and inserted as a cross-reference in another. She inserts a new map between Figures 2 and 3 and captions it.

The new map becomes Figure 3; the old 3, 4, 5 and 6 become 4, 5, 6 and 7. There are now 7 figures.
The cross-reference pointed at the caption of the soil map, the old Figure 4. After Ctrl + A, F9 it reads “see Figure 5”, still the soil map. Correct.
The typed “see Figure 4” still says 4, which is now the old Figure 3. It is wrong, and nothing will warn her.
Her list of figures still shows six entries until she updates it (entire table).

Cross-references

To write “as Table 2 shows” so that the number follows the table:

Type “as ” and leave the cursor there.
References → Cross-reference (or Insert → Cross-reference).
Reference type: Table. Insert reference to: Only label and number. Pick the table from the list and click Insert, then Close.
Finish the sentence: “ shows …”.

Other choices of Insert reference to include the whole caption, the page number, or “above/below”. Tick Insert as hyperlink so that Ctrl + click jumps to the table.

Worked example 2: the front pages of a report

An S3 group report has a cover, then its lists. A tidy order, each on its own page, numbered in Roman numerals (Lesson 1):

Page	Content	Built with
(cover)	Title, names, school, date	Title style, typed
ii	Contents	References → Table of Contents
iii	List of Figures	Insert Table of Figures, label Figure
iv	List of Tables	Insert Table of Figures, label Table
1 …	Introduction and the body	Heading styles, captions

If the headings “List of Figures” and “List of Tables” use Heading 1, they will appear in the TOC too, which helps the reader find them.

Warning

Common mistakes

Typing “Figure 1” by hand. It is not counted, not renumbered and not listed. Use Insert Caption every time.
Retyping the number inside the Caption box. Only type the description.
Wrong label. A table captioned with the label Figure ends up in the list of figures. Delete the caption and insert it again with the Table label.
Deleting a picture but not its caption. The orphan caption is still counted. Delete both, then Ctrl + A, F9.
A picture that drifts away from its caption. Keep the picture's wrapping In Line with Text so the two stay together.

Steven Bradburn: how to create a table of figures in Word, and a table of tables. The chapters cover adding figure captions, changing the caption style, inserting the table of figures and updating it.

Tip

Using LibreOffice Writer? Select the picture, then Insert → Caption; the categories are Figure, Table, Illustration, Drawing and Text. Build the lists with Insert → Table of Contents and Index → Table of Contents, Index or Bibliography, choosing the type Table of Figures or Index of Tables.

✦

Hands-on: figures and tables in the clubs booklet

Open Clubs_Booklet.docx. Under three of the clubs, insert a picture (Insert → Pictures → Stock Images, or a photo you took yourself). Set each to In Line with Text.
Caption each picture with the label Figure, below it, for example “Figure 1: Debaters at the regional final”.
Under two clubs, insert a small table (meeting day, time, room, teacher in charge). Caption each with the label Table, above it.
After the contents page, insert a Next Page section break or page break and add a List of Figures; then a page with a List of Tables. Give both headings the Heading 1 style and update the TOC.
In the first club's text, type “The club's timetable is in ” and insert a cross-reference to the first table (Only label and number).
Insert a new picture before Figure 1 and caption it. Check that the old figures were renumbered, then update everything with Ctrl + A, F9. Does the cross-reference still point at the right table?
Save. You will not need the booklet again, but keep it as an example of a well-built long document.

Practice

Define a caption and a cross-reference.
Name three labels Word offers for captions, and say how to make a new label such as “Map”.
Write the steps to insert a list of tables.
Where is a figure's caption usually placed, and where is a table's? Suggest a reason for each.
A report has Tables 1–5. A new table is captioned between Tables 1 and 2. What number does it get, and what happens to the old Table 5?
Teta's list of figures is missing two charts. Both charts have “Figure 7” and “Figure 8” typed underneath them in bold. Diagnose the problem and fix it.
A document has captions labelled Figure 1–9 and Table 1–4, and one table captioned by mistake as Figure 6. How many entries are in the list of figures, and how many in the list of tables? What should be done?
Compare a typed “see Table 3” with a cross-reference to Table 3, in a report that will be edited many times.

Show answersHide answers

Caption: a numbered label with a description attached to a figure, table or equation. Cross-reference: a reference in the text to a caption, heading or page that Word updates when numbers change.
Figure, Table, Equation. Insert Caption → New Label… → type Map → OK.
Click where the list should go → References → Insert Table of Figures → Caption label: Table → OK.
Figure: below, since the reader looks at the picture first. Table: above, since the reader needs the title before reading rows and columns. (A house style may differ; be consistent.)
It becomes Table 2; the old Tables 2–5 become 3–6, so the old Table 5 becomes Table 6.
The numbers were typed, not inserted as captions, so Word does not know they exist. Delete the typed text, select each chart → Insert Caption (label Figure), then update the list of figures (entire table).
List of figures: 9 entries (Figures 1–9, including the table wrongly labelled). List of tables: 4. Delete the wrong caption, insert a caption with the Table label, then Ctrl + A, F9 so that both series renumber: 8 figures and 5 tables.
The typed number never changes, so after tables are added or moved it can point at the wrong table without warning. The cross-reference is tied to the caption, so after updating fields it always shows the right number, and can be a hyperlink. In a document that will be edited, the cross-reference is clearly better; the typed text is only safe in a final, unchanging document.

Sources and credits

Steps and the renumbering rules checked against Add, format, or delete captions in Word and Insert a table of figures, Microsoft Support (facts only).
Video: How To Create A Table Of Figures In Word (& Table Of Tables!), Steven Bradburn, embedded from YouTube.
The mock-up, tables, worked examples, hands-on task and practice items were written by Ganzaa. Keza's project is invented.

1“See Figure 4”, but which one?

2Inserting a caption

3Building the lists

4Cross-references

5Hands-on: figures and tables in the clubs booklet

“See Figure 4”, but which one?

Inserting a caption

Building the lists

Cross-references

Hands-on: figures and tables in the clubs booklet