[Libs-Or] Tech-Talk: WORD - Adding a Table of Contents in 3 Easy Steps

Wed Feb 18 14:35:45 PST 2026

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WORD - Adding a Table of Contents in 3 Easy Steps

Advanced

Have you ever looked at a very long document and had to scroll ... and scroll ... to find the section that you need? Books have chapters to divide the content, right? Well, you can use this concept to separate sections in reports, training manuals, e-books, etc.. by quickly adding a Table of Contents (TOC).

A TOC not only lets you find things quickly in a document, it serves as a summary of the key points for the reader as well -- giving them a bird's eye view of the document's content.

[A table of contents lists topics such as outsourcing, marketing, and technology. It includes mistakes like “Trying to do everything yourself” and “Not leveraging technology smartly,” with related questions and page numbers.]

For example, you could be:

·     Writing an important funding request.
·     Crafting an employee handbook.
·     Putting together a conference booklet with a breakdown of events each day.

These documents can become long and complex. And because you've probably added headings and subheads in the documents, they can be collected into a Table of Contents in a few easy steps.

If you think you have to type your TOC into the document manually, throw that thought out the window. Having your "headings" automatically create a Table of Contents can be done in three easy steps. Let's take a look!

In WORD: Add a Table of Contents in 3 Steps!

One prerequisite you need in a document to create a Table of Contents is that your text includes headings and subheadings. This way, you can tag them to be recognized as elements in the TOC.

Step 1: Tag your Headings and Subheadings with Styles.

Tagging your headings is the main concept to grasp in the Table of Contents process as Word will pull these to create the TOC. Start at the top to tag the first heading or subheading to appear in your TOC.

NOTE: Tagging means to format the text with a preset "heading" style.

·     Highlight the heading/subheading in your document.

·     In the Home tab in the Styles section, click on the preferred TOC level (Heading 1, 2, 3).

·     Find the next Heading/Subheading in your document and do the same. Move through your document highlighting and applying Styles until you reach the end.

[Screenshot of Microsoft Word with the "Heading 1" style highlighted in the toolbar. The document text below reads "Step 1 – Tag your Headings and Subheadings with Styles.]

Step 2: Add a Table of Contents to Your Document

[A Microsoft Word window showing the "References" tab selected. The "Table of Contents" dropdown is open, displaying automatic and manual table of contents options. An arrow points to the "References" menu tab.]
·     Put your cursor where you want to add your TOC ... in the front portion of your document.

·     Go to the References tab and in the Table of Contents group, click Table of Contents. There are two choices at the top. Automatic Table 1 creates the table with the title "Contents." While Automatic Table 2 creates the same table, only it is titled "Table of Contents." You can scroll down and create a Customized Table, but the basic style is pretty standard.

·     That's it! Your TOC will be added.

Step 3: Making Changes to Your Table of Contents

If you like the look of your table, you're done! Now, when you click on a TOC link, it will jump down to the place in the document for that Heading.

But if you want to make formatting changes to the Table of Contents, you can. Just highlight the TOC and change the font, bold, font size, etc… then save your document.

TIP: Make format changes to the Table of Contents the very last thing you do! Because, if you ever need to update your TOC (as you add new headings or new content) you’ll need to make these formatting changes again.

[Screenshot of the Table of Contents dialog box in Microsoft Word, showing options for print and web previews, tag leader selection, and buttons for Modify, Options, and OK/Cancel at the bottom.]

If you want to make formatting changes to the Tab leader (the dots between the text and page number in the TOC) the font style, font size, or other formatting attributes, one way to do it is:

·     Go back to the Reference tab, click on the Table of Contents and choose Custom Table of Contents option at the bottom.

·     Make changes to the Tab leader by clicking Tab leader and picking a new style.

·     To make changes to the font styles, click the Modify button at the bottom of the dialog box and specify your formatting for each TOC heading level.

·     You can choose to make the change for "only in this document" or "new documents based on this template."

Editing Your Table of Contents

If, after you've created the Table of Contents, you have made any changes to the headings or the text, you must update the TOC.

·     Go to the Table of Contents, in the References tab, in the Table of Contents section, click on the Update Table. Or, highlight the TOC and an Update Table option will appear at the top.

[A dialog box titled "Update Table of Contents" with options to "Update page numbers only" (selected) or "Update entire table." There are "OK" and "Cancel" buttons at the bottom.]
·     Now you have two choices: Update page numbers only or Update entire table depending on the changes that you’ve made. If you just added more text that shifted the page numbers you just need the first option. If you’ve added more headings and subheadings and tagged them with a Style to be added to your table, choose to update the entire table.

·     Note that when you have changed the font styles in the Custom TOC, your changes when updating the table will remain.

TIP: In the default Styles list in the Home tab, you may only have Heading 1 and Heading 2 showing. You may want to use additional levels (3 or 4) in your TOC, so you need to add these to your Style section in the ribbon.

·     Click on the down arrow in the right corner of the Styles section on the Home tab.

·     At the very bottom click on the third icon at the very bottom of the menu (when you mouse over it, it shows Manage Styles).

·     Go to the Recommend tab in the window and click on the style you want to add to the bar and under Set whether style shows when viewing recommended styles, click the Show link.

·     When finished click OK.

[Two screenshots of Microsoft Word: the left shows the Styles pane with "Heading 1" selected, and the right shows the Manage Styles window with "Heading 1" highlighted and the "Show" button outlined.]

(Continued Online) Read the rest of the article and discover:

·     How to Create a Custom Heading Style in Word
·     Add a Table of Contents in Web 365
·     Add a Table of Contents in a GOOGLE Docs

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Communications: Power Words

#10, Would You Be Willing?

Oh my goodness, sometimes you get to a point in a situation where a colleague just doesn’t want to do what you suggest, right? And there are times when a team member is very upset and doesn’t want to agree to the solution that’s on the table.

Then there are the occasions when you know in advance that you’re going to ask someone to do something … and you want them to agree. How can you phrase the request so they jump on board?

All three of these situations can benefit from using the phrase…

“Would you be willing to … ?”

This phrase opens up the receptivity of the listener.

Compare these:

·     OK: “I know you’re busy, but I need you to look at this additional responsibility.” vs.
·     BETTER: “I know you’re busy, but would you be willing to look at this additional responsibility?”

·     OK: “I see you’re upset, so I think you should talk to the supervisor.” vs.
·     BETTER: “I see you’re upset, so would you be willing to talk to the supervisor?”

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Cheers,
Darci Hanning, MLIS (she/her/hers)
Public Library Consultant / CE Coordinator
Continuing Education Resources: https://slo.oregon.gov/conted/
State Library of Oregon | Library Support and Development Services
971-375-3491 | darci.hanning at slo.oregon.gov<mailto:darci.hanning at slo.oregon.gov> | www.oregon.gov/library<http://www.oregon.gov/library>

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