Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Creating a Table of Contents from Heading Levels.

Creating a Table of Contents from Heading Levels

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated May 22, 2017)

If you are writing a long document or a book, you may want to create a Table of Contents (TOC) for your document. The easiest way to create a TOC is to use heading levels, as defined by the Word styles. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Position the insertion point where you want the TOC inserted.
  2. Choose Index and Tables from the Insert menu. (In Word 2002 or Word 2003, choose Reference from the Insert menu, then choose Index and Tables.) Word displays the Index and Tables dialog box.
  3. Make sure the Table of Contents tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)
  4. Figure 1. The Table of Contents tab of the Index and Tables dialog box.

  5. If you are using Word 97, choose From Template in the Formats list. In later versions of Word, make sure the Formats drop-down list at the bottom of the dialog box is set to From Template.
  6. Using the Show Levels control, specify how many heading levels should be included in the TOC.
  7. Click on OK.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (37) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Creating a Table of Contents from Heading Levels.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

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