The Wicked Easy Way to Create a Table of Contents in Word

You already know that a table of contents makes it easier for your readers to work with long documents of 10 or more pages. They give printed documents a sophisticated look and feel, and add ebook-like navigation to onscreen documents.

But did you know that tables of contents are wicked easy to create and update in Microsoft Word? You can put one in any of your Word docs in a few clicks, just like this.

How a table of contents works in Word

When you want to begin a new section in a Word document, highlight the section title, then click the “Home” tab, navigate to the “Styles” section, and select “Heading 1.” This will indicate that the highlighted section is the name (and beginning) of a new section. 

Repeat this step for each section you wish to include in your Table of Contents. If you want to include subsections in your document and on your Table of Contents, use “Heading 2” to indicate a subsection within a “Heading 1” section, and so on. 

Word’s automatic table of contents creator works by finding each header you insert into the document and creating a section in the table of contents for each. The title of the section in the table of contents will match the Heading 1 text, though you can edit this by right-clicking the table contents and choosing update field. 

How to insert a table of contents in Word

When you’ve formatted your document with headers, you’re ready to insert a table of contents. Follow these steps:

Click the section of the document where you want to create the table of contents. If you’d like it to appear on its own page, insert a page break (Ctrl+Enter or Shift+Enter on Mac) before and after inserting the table.

1. Click the References tab and select Table of Contents.
   
2. Choose one of several automatic styles for your table of contents.
   

From there, Word will create a table of contents from the document text you styled with one of the first three heading styles: Heading 1, Heading 2, and Heading 3. The table will include a string of dots called a leader between the heading text and the page number for each heading.

Hold Ctrl (or shift on Mac) and click on one of the page numbers to navigate to that location in the document. When people reading your document on-screen hover over a page number, they’ll be reminded they can use the table for navigation.

Creating subsections in your table of contents 

The default table of content styles in Word creates a table of contents sections for three levels of header: headings 1, 2, and 3. Heading 1 is used for main sections while heading 2 and 3 are used to delineate subsections within the larger heading 1 sections.

If you want to indicate that a new section within your document is a subsection of a larger section, then make the heading of the larger section a heading 1 style and make each subsection beneath it heading 2. You can create as many subsections within your smaller subsections as you want, but by default your table of contents will only include sections marked with heading 1, 2, or 3. 

Customizing your table of contents 

Once your table of contents is created, you may want to customize it to show more or less detailed information. For example, while the default Word table of contents includes the first three heading levels, you may not want to include this much detail in  longer documents. 

To reformat and customize your existing table of contents, navigate to References, select Table of Contents, then click Custom table of contents. From this menu, you’ll have multiple options that will allow you to customize as you see fit. For example, clicking the show level option allows you to adjust the number of heading levels you see in your table of contents.

You can also select the styles you’d like to use from this menu by selecting Options. This will also allow you to use a different style for your table of contents than you used for your other headers.

Updating your table of contents 

After you’ve edited your document, your page numbers and headings may change, which will make your Table of Contents incorrect. But don’t worry: To update your Table of Contents, right-click in the table and choose Update Field. You can also access this menu by selecting Update Table from the Table of Contents section in the References tab. 

From here, you can select update page numbers only to update the pages that the headings are on while ignoring any changes to the heading text. Or you can click update entire table to update both the heading text and page number changes. When you’ve made the changes you want, select OK.

It’s a good practice to update the table of contents before printing or sharing a document in case it has been modified since the last time the table of contents was updated.

Note: You don’t need to wait until your document is finished to insert a table of contents. If you’re creating a long document, create the table from an outline so you can navigate easily while you’re drafting. 

Not all documents require a table of contents; they’re inappropriate for letters and memos and overkill for smaller documents.

Tables of contents shine in formal reports and documents of more than 10 pages. Any document that merits a cover page would also benefit from a table of contents to provide a high-level outline and built-in navigation for the people who use the document.

To learn more about using Microsoft Word effectively, check out these LinkedIn Learning courses:

• Getting Started with Microsoft Word — Updated March 2023
• Word Essential Training (Microsoft 365) — Updated April 2023
• Learning Word Online (Microsoft 365) — Updated June 2023