How to Create and Update a Table of Contents in Word

An automatic table of contents in Word uses Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3, and similar styles applied to body headings. Format the headings first, insert a table of contents from References, and update it after the document changes.

This guide covers the desktop version of Word for Windows. Menu names and positions can differ between versions.

Apply styles to the body headings

1. Select a heading in the document body and apply Home → Styles → Heading 1. This is different from styling text already inside the table of contents.
2. Use Heading 2 for its subheadings and Heading 3 for the next level. Enlarging or bolding text alone does not apply a heading style.

Turn on View → Navigation Pane to inspect the structure. The pane does not have to open automatically for the style to work. Change a heading’s appearance through its style and choose its level according to the document hierarchy.

Insert an automatic table of contents

1. Place the cursor where the table of contents should appear.
2. Open References → Table of Contents and select an automatic format. Word gathers the styled headings and their page numbers.

To include heading numbers, use heading styles linked to a multilevel list. Avoid mixing manually typed heading numbers with automatic numbering.

Update the table of contents

Adding a heading, renaming it, or moving content to another page does not necessarily update the existing table of contents immediately.

1. Click inside the table of contents and choose Update Table, or use the update command on References.
2. Select the update scope that matches the changes.
3. Check that the new headings and page numbers are correct.

Choose how many heading levels to show

1. Open References → Table of Contents → Custom Table of Contents.
2. Set Show levels to the number of heading levels you need. For example, 2 creates a structure that includes Heading 1 and Heading 2.
3. Confirm the change and check the displayed hierarchy.

Fix missing headings or overwritten edits

• For a missing entry, check that the body heading has a real heading style and that Show levels includes it.
• After adding a heading, select Update entire table, not just page numbers.
• Editing a title directly inside an automatic table of contents can be overwritten at the next update. Change the body heading instead; adjust appearance through table-of-contents styles or the custom settings.
• If entries remain inconsistent, work on a copy, inspect heading styles and table settings, and insert the table again if needed.

The heading-based structure is described in Microsoft's table-of-contents instructions.