Hi everyone,

i have an issue with Table of Contents where when update the entire Table of contents, it changes the text direction from 'Left-to-Right' to 'Right-to-Left'. I have tried all the ways to avoid this strange event, like updating the TOC styles to assure their direction are LTR, but I couldn't get rid of it.

Can you help me to find out the cause of this issue & to got it solved?

Thanks in advance...

Perhaps someone with more experience in R-L languages can be of more help. However, from a diagnostic standpoint: you said that updating caused the reversal, implying that the originally created TOC was fine. Assuming that it was automatically created by Word, one possibility is that Word, in updating, is finding a word still tagged with a R-L language. Is this document perhaps a translation or related transposition from a R-L language, in which an editing change was made between first TOC creation and updating?

I would expect the problem not to lie in the TOC styles, but in the styles from which they are assembling the TOC. Unless the updating process, itself, has somehow gotten a switched flipped, but that is out of my league.

Best,
Ulodesk

From a diagnostic standpoint, I agree. I think there is a RTL style somewhere that is being used for the TOC.

Thanks for the answers.

I've attached sample document, I don't know if it can help to detect the issue.

Note: I didn't update TOC so that you can see the issue, so please right-click on the TOC & update the entire contents.

Attached Files

Test Document.docx (32.5 KB, 8 views)

That is, I don't know why your TOC is behaving that way, except that I found that in your language translation preferences, Arabic was set. I changed to English and French, but that did not seem to have any effect. However, by copying the entire document, minus the final paragraph mark (there are two empty paragraphs at the end, shown when you display hidden characters (Home tab, paragraph symbol, or press Ctrl+Shift+8), and pasted into a new Word doc. the TOC function works fine.

Hope this helps.

Ulodesk

Thanks Ulodesk for your reply.

1. What do mean by language translation preferences? Is it document property or paragraph property?
   Please notice that I have made English as the default in all language settings in Word's options.
2. When you copy & paste the entire document minus last paragraph mark, which paste option you have selected (Match destination, keep text only, ...)? Because I did the same but I have selected Keep Source Formatting from paste options as I want to preserve my styles. Unfortunately, the issue still exist in the new document.
3. I think it may be something related to Regional settings of my system. I will review these setting & see what could happen.

In the review tab, Translate/Choose translation language, it was set to Arabic.
I just copied and pasted. My defaults on this computer are also set to Keep Source Formatting. What I mean by new document, is that I opened Word, i.e., a blank from my computer, in which Arabic is certainly not, and never has been in the settings. You might try replacing the Arabic setting I indicated above, rebooting your computer, and then trying again.

Thanks Ulodesk...

I think I've found the cause of this problem or at least the required actions to avoid this problem. Somehow, may be because the language, I have found that the section direction has been set to 'Right-to-Left' for both section breaks that precede & comes after TOC. I have changed both to be 'Left-to-Right' & the problem solved...

Thanks again...

Interesting. Thanks -- I've learned something new.