How to Create a Table of Contents for a Word Document

There are a few simple steps to creating your automated table of contents on a word document. It's a lot easier than you think and will save time and effort. Also, you can control click the table to get straight to a particular section.

Steps

  1. Image titled Create a Table of Contents for a Word Document Step 1
    1
    Type out your word document in full, but remember to leave space for the table at the beginning.
  2. Image titled Create a Table of Contents for a Word Document Step 2
    2
    Go to the place you would like your table to be, then click on the references tab at the top of the page.
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  3. Image titled Create a Table of Contents for a Word Document Step 3
    3
    Click the option on the far left of the page which says "table of contents" and select the design you want. A blank table should now have been inserted into the blank space in your document, this is your table of contents.
  4. Image titled Create a Table of Contents for a Word Document Step 4
    4
    Find the first section/title you would like to be in your table and place the cursor at the beginning of it.
  5. Image titled Create a Table of Contents for a Word Document Step 5
    5
    Open the references tab again and select the "add text option". It is to the left of the table of contents option. You can now choose if the section will be a main, sub, or sub sub heading; this is done by selecting level 1, 2 or 3 in the drop down menu.(Level one being main and 3 being sub sub)
  6. Image titled Create a Table of Contents for a Word Document Step 6
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    Repeat Steps 4 and 5 throughout your document.
  7. Image titled Create a Table of Contents for a Word Document Step 7
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    Open the references tab again (when you have selected all the headings you want in your table of contents) and click the update table button just below the add text one.
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Community Q&A

  • Question
    How do I remove 'read only' from a Word document?
    Crazyperson2002
    Crazyperson2002
    Community Answer
    To remove 'read only', there should be a button at the top of the document, or you could save a different copy and edit it from there.

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About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, volunteer authors worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 142,272 times.
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Co-authors: 8
Updated: May 22, 2017
Views: 142,272
Categories: Microsoft Word
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