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How to Create an Automatic Table of Contents in Word

Follow these steps in order to build a table of contents that updates itself automatically.

  1. Apply heading styles to your titles

    Assign a style such as "Heading 1" or "Heading 2" to every title you want included in the table of contents.

  2. Place your cursor where the table of contents should go

    Click at the exact spot on the page where you want the table of contents to appear.

  3. Select "References" then "Table of Contents"

    On the "References" tab, click "Table of Contents" and choose a design -- it generates the table automatically.

  4. Update the table of contents

    After editing your document, click the table of contents and choose "Update Field" to refresh page numbers and titles to match the current version.

  5. Jump to a section from the table of contents

    In the finished table of contents, hold Ctrl and click an entry to jump straight to that page.

You never have to count pages by hand

Writing a table of contents manually means the page numbers drift out of sync every time you edit the document. The automatic feature keeps everything current with a single click, no manual recount required.

Do the heading styles the automatic feature actually needs

Without heading styles applied, Word's automatic table of contents has no way to know which lines of text should count as entries, so applying styles first is a required step, not an optional one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I build a table of contents without using heading styles?

Not really -- without heading styles, the automatic table of contents feature has no way to identify which text should become an entry, so applying styles first is necessary.

Can I change how the table of contents looks?

Yes. You can pick from several built-in designs when inserting it, and adjust fonts or indentation freely afterward.