I've got numerous word files that I'm in the process of converting to PDF. Pulling bookmarks from the headings in the word docs is important to this process. I went through the Save As process with a few files, selecting the appropriate option to create bookmarks from the styled headings. It seemed to work fine at first, but now I've noticed that in some, but not all files, certain headings were omitted from the bookmarks. I double-checked that the styles for the missing headings were correct, but they don't show up in the bookmarks panel in Adobe Reader or Acrobat. (In fact, those missing entries DO appear in the the TOCs that Word automatically generated from the documents' headings.)



It appears that the difference between those files that have the problem and those that do not is that the problematic ones have 3 levels of headings, whereas the others have only 2. However, it is not the level 3 headings themselves that aren't coming through--at least, not in all cases. Can anyone think of why this might be happening?

I'm running Office 2013 on Windows 7. Thanks.

Are you sure that all of your headings are built-in? I believe the conversion to PDF "bookmarks" assumes that you are not using custom headings.

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

All the headings I'm using have been assigned Heading 1, Heading 2, or Heading 3 in the styles panel. My understanding is that this should all that is needed to make the bookmarks work.

Which headings are missing is inconsistent--or at least, I haven't found a pattern yet. In some cases, several Heading 1 entries are missing, but others are present. In other cases, it's Heading 2s that are missing, but again, not all of them. I haven't yet found a case where any Heading 3s are missing.

You seem to have done everything right.

Would it be possible for you to upload a small sample document (in Word format) which demonstrates the problem?

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

I've attached a sample created from one of the existing documents. I replaced most of the content with placeholder text for discretion's sake, but the headings are untouched. I confirmed that this file exhibits the problem in question. The bookmarks panel in the PDF exported from this document doesn't have any level 1 headings, though these headings do appear in the Word doc TOC.

Thanks for your help.

Attached Files

bookmarks_error_sample.docx (132.1 KB, 11 views)

It seems as if the problem is that you have applied Heading 1 to part of a paragraph; this works in Word TOCs but it doesn't work with PDF conversion.

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

Stefan,

That seems to have solved it. Thanks so much for your help!

You are welcome!

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

Search the forum for "style separator", in case that tip helps you get the results you're after.