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Check and Fix Broken References in Word

AuthorXiaoyangLast modified

Microsoft Word documents often contain hyperlinks, cross-references, bookmarks, tables of contents, captions, and other reference fields. When referenced content is renamed, deleted, or moved, these references may become invalid. Finding them manually can be difficult, especially in a long document.

The Check References feature in Kutools for Word scans the document, lists valid and invalid references, explains each detected problem, and helps you repair broken references from one centralized window. It is especially useful for reports, manuals, academic papers, contracts, and other documents containing many internal links or field-based references.

Check and Fix Broken References in Word

Advantage of Check References feature

How to use Check References feature?

Tips for Better Results

Notes and Limitations

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Advantage of Check References feature

✓

Check multiple reference types at once

The feature can scan different types of references in the current document, including: Table of Contents entries, Hyperlinks, Cross-references, References linked to headings, bookmarks, captions, figures, tables, or other document elements. Instead of checking every link manually, you can review them together in one pane.

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Quickly identify invalid references

Each reference is marked with a status icon: A green check mark indicates that the reference appears to be valid. A red exclamation mark indicates that the reference may be broken or invalid. The total number of detected issues is displayed at the top of the pane.

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See the location and context of each reference

The results list provides useful information, including: Type, Page, Context. This information makes it easier to identify where each issue occurs.

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Update fields and check again

After editing the document, you can use Rescan or Update Fields & Rescan to refresh the results without closing and reopening the feature.

How to use Check References feature?

The Check References feature is easy to use and allows you to scan, review, and repair references from one convenient pane. Follow the steps below to check the references in your document, identify any errors, view detailed information, and fix invalid references.

Check All References in Word

Follow these steps to scan the references in the current document.

1. Open the Word document that contains the references you want to check. For best results, save the document before beginning the scan.

2. Then, click Kutools > Check References.
enable Check References feature

3. The Check References pane appears on the right of the document and automatically scans the available references.
Check References pane appears on the right of the document

Review the scan summary

At the top of the pane, you can see the number of detected issues. For example, Found 4 issues. This means that four references may be invalid or require further review.

Review all detected references

Open the All References tab to view every reference found in the document.
review all detected references

View only broken references

Click the Errors tab to display only the items that have been identified as invalid. This view is useful when the document contains many valid references and you only need to process the errors.
View only broken references

4. Select a reference to view its details. Click an item in the results list, and detailed information will appear in the lower section of the pane. Review these details to identify why the reference is broken and determine how to fix it.

 

Fix an Invalid Reference

A reference often becomes invalid because its original destination no longer exists. For example, a bookmark may have been deleted, a heading may have been renamed, or a referenced caption may have been removed.

1. Select the broken reference in the Check References pane, check the information shown in the Details section, especially the Reference and Error Detail fields.
check the information

2. Click the Fix button in the Details section. Depending on the reference type, you may be prompted to replace the invalid destination with an existing bookmark or another valid reference target. Select or enter the correct destination, the selected hyperlink or reference is updated to point to the corrected destination.
click fix button

3. When the reference has been repaired successfully, its red error icon should be replaced with a green check mark. After repairing the reference, click Rescan. Kutools checks the document again and refreshes the result list.
error reference repaired successfully

Result: When the repair is successful, the item should no longer appear under the Errors tab and should be displayed with a green check mark under All References.

 

Rescan and Update Fields & Rescan

The Check References window provides two scanning options.

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Rescan

Click Rescan to check the current state of the document again. Rescan is suitable when you only need to check whether your recent changes have resolved the detected issues.

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Update Fields & Rescan

Click Update Fields & Rescan to update the document’s fields before running another scan. For example, a cross-reference may still display an old page number or an error message until its field is updated. Update Fields & Rescan refreshes the field results first and then checks the references again.

Which option should you use?

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Use Rescan after making a simple change to a hyperlink or bookmark.

✓

Use Update Fields & Rescan when the document contains tables of contents, cross-references, captions, page references, or other fields that may need to be refreshed.

Tips for Better Results

1

Save a backup before making multiple repairs

If the document contains many references, save a copy before changing them. This makes it easier to restore the original document if a reference is connected to the wrong destination.

2

Review the context before fixing an item

Do not rely only on the reference name. Check the Context and Page columns to confirm which part of the document the reference belongs to.

3

Avoid deleting referenced content directly

Before deleting a heading, caption, bookmark, figure, or table, check whether other parts of the document refer to it. If it must be deleted, update or remove the related references as well.

4

Review the document after fixing references

A technically valid reference may still point to the wrong heading, figure, or bookmark. After repairing the errors, test important links manually to confirm that they lead to the intended content.

Notes and Limitations

01

Results depend on the document’s current structure

The feature checks references against the destinations that currently exist in the document. If a referenced heading, bookmark, caption, or numbered item has been deleted, Word may not be able to determine the intended replacement automatically.

02

Some errors require manual reconstruction

The Fix button may help you replace an invalid destination, but it cannot always recreate deleted content.

For example, if a referenced figure has been permanently removed, you may need to:

1
Insert or restore the figure.
2
Add its caption again.
3
Recreate the cross-reference.
03

Field results may need to be updated

Some cross-references and table-of-contents entries may continue to display outdated information until their fields are refreshed. Use Update Fields & Rescan when ordinary rescanning does not update the displayed result.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What types of references can Check References detect?

It can check common Word references such as tables of contents, hyperlinks, and cross-references. The exact results depend on the reference types and structures used in the current document.

2. What is the difference between All References and Errors?

All References shows every detected reference, including both valid and invalid items.

Errors shows only the references that have been identified as problematic.

3. Why does a cross-reference display “Error! Reference source not found.”?

This message usually appears when the destination of a cross-reference has been deleted or its underlying bookmark no longer exists.

The missing source may have been a heading, caption, figure, table, equation, footnote, or numbered item.

4. Can Check References automatically fix every error?

Not necessarily. Some invalid references can be redirected to an existing valid destination. Others require you to restore the missing content, recreate a bookmark, or insert a new cross-reference manually.

Conclusion

The Check References feature in Kutools for Word provides a centralized way to inspect tables of contents, hyperlinks, cross-references, and other document references. It clearly marks possible errors, shows the page and context of each item, and provides detailed information that can help you repair invalid destinations.

For the most reliable results, scan the document after making structural changes, repair each detected issue carefully, and finish by clicking Update Fields & Rescan. This helps ensure that your document’s links, fields, and references remain accurate and usable.