How to Create a Table of Contents in Word

A table of contents makes long documents navigable and professional. Word can generate one automatically from your heading styles and update it whenever the document changes — no manual typing required. This guide explains how to set up your headings, insert the TOC, and keep it up to date.

Step 1: Apply heading styles to your document

Word builds the table of contents by scanning the document for text formatted with built-in Heading styles (Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3 and so on). Each heading style corresponds to a level in the TOC — Heading 1 becomes a top-level entry, Heading 2 becomes indented beneath it, and so on.

To apply a heading style, select the text you want to be a heading and click the appropriate style in the Styles gallery on the Home tab. If your document already uses heading styles, you're ready to insert the TOC. If it uses manually bolded or enlarged text instead of styles, you'll need to reformat those titles using the Heading styles first.

Step 2: Insert the table of contents

Once your headings are in place, inserting the TOC is quick:

  1. Click to place your cursor where you want the table of contents to appear — typically at the beginning of the document, after any title page.
  2. Go to the References tab on the ribbon.
  3. Click Table of Contents.
  4. Choose one of the Automatic Table styles (Automatic Table 1 or Automatic Table 2). Word scans your headings and inserts a formatted TOC with page numbers automatically.
  5. To customise the appearance further, choose Custom Table of Contents at the bottom of the gallery.

Updating the table of contents

The TOC is a field, not static text — it reflects the document's headings and page numbers at the time it was last updated. Whenever you add, remove or rearrange headings, or if page numbers shift because content has been added, you should update the TOC.

  1. Click anywhere inside the table of contents.
  2. A grey bar appears at the top. Click Update Table.
  3. Choose 'Update page numbers only' if only the page numbers have changed, or 'Update entire table' if headings have been added, removed or renamed.
  4. Click OK. The TOC refreshes instantly.

Customising TOC levels and appearance

By default, the TOC shows three levels of headings (Heading 1, 2 and 3). To change this, go to References > Table of Contents > Custom Table of Contents. In the dialog, adjust 'Show levels' to include more or fewer heading levels.

You can also change the formatting of the TOC entries by modifying the TOC styles (TOC 1, TOC 2, TOC 3 etc.) in the Styles gallery — adjust fonts, sizes and indentation just like any other style. The tab leader (the dotted line between the entry and the page number) can be changed to dashes, a solid line or nothing in the Custom Table of Contents dialog.

Adding non-heading text to the TOC

If you want to include a specific line of text in the TOC but don't want it styled as a heading, you can mark it manually. Select the text, go to References > Add Text, and choose a level (Level 1, 2 or 3). This tags the text for inclusion in the TOC without changing its visible style.

Fixing a TOC that shows 'no table of contents entries found'

This error means Word cannot find any text formatted with Heading styles. Check your document by clicking on a section title — if the Styles gallery on the Home tab shows 'Normal' or a custom style name instead of 'Heading 1', the text isn't using a recognised heading style. Apply the correct Heading style and then update the TOC.

Frequently asked questions

Will the TOC update automatically when I edit the document?

No. Word does not update the TOC in real time. You need to click Update Table manually, or Word will prompt you to update it when you print or export the document.

How do I remove the table of contents?

Go to References > Table of Contents > Remove Table of Contents. This deletes the TOC field entirely, leaving your headings and content intact.

Can I include my own custom styles in the TOC?

Yes. In the Custom Table of Contents dialog, click Options. You'll see a list of all styles in the document. Assign a TOC level number to any style you want to include, then click OK.

The page numbers in my TOC are wrong. How do I fix it?

Click inside the TOC and choose Update Table > Update entire table. If numbers are still wrong, check whether you have section breaks with restarting page numbers, which can confuse the TOC.

Can I create a clickable TOC for a PDF?

Yes. When you export a Word document with a TOC as a PDF (using File > Export > Create PDF/XPS), Word converts the TOC entries into clickable bookmarks in the PDF automatically.