Retain Formatting After Updating a Cross Reference

Problem

You insert a cross reference to a section. And, you apply a character style to display the link in blue. However, when you update the cross reference, the character styling is lost. For example, if you have applied a style to display the link in blue, the formatting is lost when you update the cross reference. The link does not appear in blue anymore.

Tool: Microsoft Word

Workaround

To retain the character styling of a cross reference after updating it, do the following:

  1. Right-click the cross reference, and select Toggle Field Code.

    The field code is displayed. The field code is similar to the following:

    {REF _Ref485728411 \h}

  2. Append the following string to the field code:

    \*Charformat

    So, the cross reference field code must be similar to the following:

    {REF _Ref485728411 \*Charformat \h}

  3. Right-click the cross reference, and select Toggle Field Code.

  4. Select the cross reference and apply the character style that you want to use. For example, apply blue font color to the cross reference.

  5. To test the solution, right-click the cross reference and select Update Field. The blue color must be retained after the update.