When Microsoft Word builds a table of figures (table of figures: A list of the captions for pictures, charts, graphs, slides, or other illustrations in a document, along with the numbers of the pages the captions appear on.), it looks for captions only in the text layer. Word ignores any captions that appear in the drawing layer. For example, if you insert a caption for a floating object (floating object: A graphic or other object that is inserted in the drawing layer so that you can position it precisely on the page or in front of or behind text or other objects.), the caption is automatically placed in a text box (text box: A movable, resizable container for text or graphics. Use text boxes to position several blocks of text on a page or to give text a different orientation from other text in the document.) in the drawing layer.

If you haven’t already inserted a figure and its caption, insert the figure as an inline object (inline object: A graphic or other object that is positioned directly in the text of a Microsoft Word document at the insertion point.), and then insert the caption as usual. If you’ve already inserted captions in text boxes, you can convert the text boxes into frames (frame: A container that you can resize and position anywhere on the page. To position text or graphics that contain comments, footnotes, endnotes, or certain fields, you must use a frame instead of a text box.).

A table of figures is inserted in your document as a field (field: A set of codes that instructs Microsoft Word to insert text, graphics, page numbers, and other material into a document automatically. For example, the DATE field inserts the current date.). If you see something like {TOC} instead of the table of figures, the field is being displayed instead of field results (field results: Text or graphics inserted in a document when Microsoft Word carries out a field's instructions. When you print the document or hide field codes, the field results replace the field codes.). To view the results for the table of figures, select the entire table of figures field, including the braces, {}, and then press SHIFT+F9.

If you add, delete, move, or edit text in a document, you need to update the table of authorities (table of authorities: A list of the references in a legal document, such as references to cases, statutes, and rules, along with the numbers of the pages the references appear on.) or table of figures (table of figures: A list of the captions for pictures, charts, graphs, slides, or other illustrations in a document, along with the numbers of the pages the captions appear on.). To do this, click to the left of the table of authorities or table of figures that you want to update, and then press F9.

If you add, delete, move, or edit text in a document, you need to update the table of figures (table of figures: A list of the captions for pictures, charts, graphs, slides, or other illustrations in a document, along with the numbers of the pages the captions appear on.) and you may also need to update the figures themselves. To do this, press CTRL+A to select the entire document, and then press F9.