A table of contents is the same as a the list of chapters at the beginning of a book. It lists each section in the document and the page number where that section begins.
It takes a lot of work to manually input a table of contents, not to mention having to change your page numbers or sections manually should something change – but not with this awesome feature in Microsoft Word 365 that will do it all automatically!
As an added bonus, you can also hyperlink your table of contents to take you directly to a chose chapter or section.
A basic table of contents might look like this:
Step 1: Apply Style to Sections or Chapters
Styles serve an important purpose: adding a hidden layer of organization and structure to your document.
When you apply a heading style, you are telling Word that you have started a new part (section, chapter, etc.) of your document. In the table of contents above, each chapter uses a heading style, so there are four sections (chapters).
To apply a heading style, select the text you want to format, then choose the desired heading in the Styles group on the Home tab.
Step 2: Insert the Table of Contents
Now watch the magic happen! After you have applied heading styles, you can insert your table of contents. On the References tab on the Ribbon, click on Table of Contents. Select an option of ab automatic table from the menu that appears, and the table of contents will appear in your document.
As you can see in the image below, the table of contents uses the heading styles in your document to determine where each section begins. Sections that begin with a Heading 2 or Heading 3 style will be nested within a Heading 1 style, like a multilevel list.
Remember the hyperlinking I mentioned earlier? The table of contents also automatically creates links for each section, allowing you to navigate to different parts of your document. Just hold the Ctrl key on your keyboard and click to go to any section.
Step 3: Update as needed
If you edit or add to your document – have no fear – you do not need to make any manual adjustments. Just select the table of contents, click Update Table, and choose Update Entire Table in the dialog box that appears. The table of contents will then update to reflect any changes.
Want to learn more? Watch this video from Microsoft
Click here for Microsoft Word 365 support on Table of Contents