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How can I include only part of an image caption in a table of figures in Microsoft Word?

For my dissertation I am writing long captions on all my figures. This makes my table of figures very awkward, as each entry covers multiple lines. How can I specify a part of the caption to be included in the table of figures?

I am using Word 2007 if that matters.

Sathyajith Bhat
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fmark
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3 Answers3

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It turns out the solution to this problem in Word 2003 and later is to use something called “style separators”. Style separators are hidden characters that are functionally paragraph separators, but they don't cause a line break; like this:

The quick brown fox│̲̅¶̲̅│jumps over the lazy dog.¶

They allow a paragraph — or rather, what appears to be a single paragraph — to have multiple paragraph styles.  This is analogous to the way a “section break (continuous)” is a section separator that doesn't cause a page break, thus allowing a page to have multiple section formats.

Firstly, make sure you have enabled viewing hidden characters.

To insert a style separator in Word 2007 use the keystrokes Ctrl+Alt+Enter, or add the “Style separator” command to the Quick Access Toolbar from the “All Commands” set (or the “Commands Not in the Ribbon” set). When you insert a style separator, it will be added at the end of the paragraph in which the cursor is placed. Move it to the point at which you would like your caption to be split.

Or, in other words (or not?), at least in Word 2013 and 2016, “insert style separator” is a misnomer.  This function (shortcut/button) simply changes the following paragraph marker (at the end of the current paragraph) from a standard paragraph mark into a style separator, thus joining two paragraphs into what looks like a single paragraph.  The best way to work with this might be to type Enter where you want to break the paragraph, then click to the left of the new paragraph mark and use the shortcut.

Don't forget to select all (Ctrl+A) and then update field codes F9 to make sure your changes get propagated into the table of figures.

An example of a style separator in a Word 2007 document

G-Man Says 'Reinstate Monica'
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fmark
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  • Apologies for answering own question, I figured it out and thought I might as well add it to the site. – fmark May 24 '11 at 09:26
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    It's perfectly fine to answer your own question – random Aug 07 '11 at 04:07
  • It took me a long time to find this answer, and I hope someone else might be benefitted by linking it here! http://superuser.com/questions/559811/include-only-part-of-a-figure-caption-within-a-textbox-in-a-table-of-figures-in – Ryanmt May 20 '14 at 18:38
  • [An answer](http://superuser.com/a/833836/150988) (now deleted) by [Andrew Roberts](http://superuser.com/users/385294/andrew-roberts) pointed out that, in Word 2003 (and 2002?), this command was called “InsertStyleSeparator”, and referred to [How to create a table of contents by marking text in Word](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/285059) at the Microsoft Support knowledge base. – Scott - Слава Україні Jan 31 '16 at 18:12
  • You absolute legend. This is brilliant, thank you! – Jasper Mogg Jul 02 '16 at 16:24
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    [Fix for Mac 2016](http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/mac/forum/macoffice2016-macword/style-separator-in-word-2016-for-mac/200f764d-ab30-4ca4-86f3-02637884f7a1) – Dave Jul 26 '16 at 02:42
  • By putting this separator right after '[', you can (a) insert a reference to bibliography, (b) see which reference it is when you click it (e.g. [2] J. Doe, "Text of Reference"), (c) insert just the number ("2"), not the '[' before the number ("[2"), so it is most versatile. Without this fix, I simply don't see any way of doing those 3 things together. Thanks a bunch! – MrBrody Oct 29 '20 at 15:39
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I did not dare to butcher fmark's comprehensive self-answer, but still want a short step-by-step, keyboard-only manual for quick reference:

How to abbreviate a long image caption for list of figures

  1. Add a normal paragraph break (Enter) at the later invisible break point.
  2. Press ← to place the cursor back in the first paragraph.
  3. Press Ctrl+Alt+Enter to convert the paragraph break into a style separtor.

Done.

ojdo
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Its a bit late now, but I figured out a way to have this in the boxes as well. Ctrl + Alt + Enter does not work for figure (or table) captions that are placed inside a box. A workaround for this is to create one in normal text and then copy and paste it for the captions inside the box. It should work.

Syed Qaseem Ali
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