How to Create a Table of Contents in Word 2016, 2013, 2010, and 2007

Want to add a table of contents to your Word document? We will help you through this tutorial below along with how to update the table of content. All you have to do is format your Word document appropriately.

Step 1. Open your document and go to the "Home" menu. Then choose Heading Styles such as Heading 1, Heading 2, etc based on the styles that you want to show up in the table of contents

Step 2. Place the cursor where you want to show a table of contents.

Step 3. Then, go to the "Reference" tab and select "Table of Content". Now choose one of the types of table of contents available. The automatic table of contents will appear in your document. You can also custom and format how the table of contents will look.

If you want to update the table of contents, for example, change the heading title or page number, follow these steps:

Step 1. Click on the Table of Contents that you want to update, then choose "Update Table"

Step 2. Choose whether you want to update page numbers only or Update the entire table.

 You can also let Word 2010 create a table of contents for your document. The step to Create a Table of Contents in word 2010 is different from 2016. But both are easy. Word 2010 can slap down a custom table of content in your documents as long as you use the built-in heading styles. here's how to do it:

Step 1. open your file and navigate the cursor to the intended blank page.

Step 2. Then, go to the References tab and click on the "Table of contents" option. There will be several options for the style of the table of contents

Step 3. Choose one of the items based on what you want the table of contents to look like.

Words arrange the table of contents on text formatted with the Heading styles. Make sure you use Heading 1 for main heads, Heading 2 for subheads, and Heading 3 for lower-level heads and subheads. If you want to update the table of contents, choose the "Update Table" command from the top of the "Table of Contents" list.

It’s easy to insert an automatic Table of Contents (TOC) in Word 2007. The important ‘rule’ is that you have to use styles for your headings. Let's jump into the tutorial below!

Step 1. Start to set up your document. Open your document and apply default Heading 1, Heading 2, and Heading 3 styles.

Step 2. Then go to the "References" tab and select the "Table of Contents" group

Step 3. Click the "Table of Contents" button. Select one of the styles from the list.

Step 4. Your table of contents is successfully inserted.

After you know how to create a table of contents in word, you need to know how to update the TOC in case you may need to revise the page numbering or delete the headings. There are several methods to update the TOC, include:

• Click in the TOC, then press F9.

• Go to the References tab, select Table of Contents group, then click Update Table.

• Click in the built-in TOC, then click Update Table (this only works for built-in TOCs, not a custom TOC create yourself).