A table of contents makes your Word document look professional and easy to navigate. Readers can jump straight to the right chapter. In this guide you'll learn how to create a table of contents automatically and manually.

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Step 1: Format your headings with styles

Before you can create an automatic table of contents, you need to format your headings with the built-in styles:

  1. Select the text of your chapter title
  2. Go to Home > the Styles group
  3. Choose Heading 1 for chapters
  4. Use Heading 2 for subchapters
  5. Use Heading 3 for even deeper levels

Tip: You can customize the styles by right-clicking a style and choosing Modify.

Step 2: Insert the table of contents

Now that your headings are formatted, you can insert the table of contents:

  1. Click where the table of contents should go (usually at the beginning)
  2. Go to References > Table of Contents
  3. Choose an automatic style or click Custom Table of Contents
  4. With the custom option you can set the number of levels and the formatting
  5. Click OK

Updating the table of contents

After making changes to your document, you need to update the table of contents:

  1. Click anywhere in the table of contents
  2. Click Update Table (or press F9)
  3. Choose Update page numbers only or Update entire table
  4. Click OK

Note: Always update before printing or exporting to PDF!

Creating a manual table of contents

Want full control? Then create a manual table of contents:

  1. Type the chapter titles and page numbers yourself
  2. Use tabs with leader characters (dots) for the line to the page numbers
  3. Go to Home > Paragraph > Tabs to set the leader characters

Downside: You have to update it manually whenever something changes.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Why doesn't my text appear in the table of contents? Check that you have applied the Heading styles (Heading 1, Heading 2, etc.). Regular text or manual formatting is not recognized.

Can I change the formatting of the table of contents? Yes! Click References > Table of Contents > Custom Table of Contents and adjust the font, tabs and levels.

How do I remove the table of contents? Click in the table of contents and go to References > Table of Contents > Remove Table of Contents.

Does this also work in older versions of Word? Yes, the feature has existed since Word 2007. The menu location may differ slightly.