How to Create a Table of Contents in Word (Automatically!), by Kevin Stratvert on YouTube. 7 min 19 s.
- Video length
- 7 min 19 s
- Time to do it
- 10 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 9
What you need
Steps
Open your document and place the cursor where the table of contents should go, usually near the top.
Go to the References tab and click Table of Contents. Pick a built-in style from the menu.
Select each section title, open the Home tab and apply a Heading style such as Heading 1 or Heading 2.
Add any new headings the same way. They appear in the table of contents after you update it.
Click inside the table of contents, then click Update Table and choose Update entire table.
To change wording, edit the heading text in the document, not the entry in the table of contents.
To change the look, click Table of Contents and choose Custom Table of Contents to set levels, tab leaders and formats.
Open the View tab and turn on Navigation Pane to see and jump between headings while you work.
Hold Ctrl and click any entry to jump straight to that section.
Tips and common mistakes
Use heading styles instead of bold text, or the entry will not appear in the table of contents.
Update the entire table after adding sections so page numbers stay correct.
Keep the table of contents on its own page so it does not shift when you update it.
Customize the TOC styles if you want different fonts or spacing without redoing the table.
Questions
Why is my heading missing from the table of contents?
It probably is not formatted with a Heading style. Select the text and apply Heading 1, Heading 2 or another heading style, then update the table.
Do I have to update the table of contents by hand?
Yes, Word does not refresh it automatically. Click inside the table and choose Update Table, then Update entire table, after your headings or page numbers change.
Can I change how the table of contents looks?
Yes. Use Custom Table of Contents to set how many heading levels show, the tab leader style and the overall format.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
