Word’s Table of Contents feature

The Table of Contents (“ToC”) feature creates a dynamic field that lists your headings with page numbers. The entries are clickable, making the ToC an additional convenient manner of navigating a large document. The ToC relies on the use of Styles in a document.

1. Default

The feature works “out-of-the-box”: it is based on the default Heading 1, Heading 2 and Heading 3 styles and if you simply apply those in your document you are able to insert a ToC from the References menu. The default ToC lists each heading along with the page number on which it occurs using tabs with leader lines. Each level of heading is indented appropriately, creating a representation of the hierarchy of heading levels in your document. Each item in the list is also a hyperlink to the relevant part of the document.

2. Custom

The ToC can be customized in a number of ways. You can map your own set of styles to the different levels of the ToC and you can change the number of levels included and there are a number of formatting options. You can map multiple styles to each level as well.

You can choose to have each entry as a hyperlink (default), you can customise or omit leader lines, you can choose where to position the numbers.

Customised page numbering will be reflected in the Table of Contents if it has been used in the document.

3. Trespassers

Anything (and I do mean any “thing”) that is formatted with one of the included styles will appear in the ToC. This means that if for example, you insert an image in a line/paragraph that has a style applied, or if you apply a style while an image is selected, that image will appear in the ToC.

1. Home menu
2. The image appears incorrectly in ToC
3. Select the image in the text
4. Not that the image is styled using one of the styles, in this instance Heading 1
5. Select style Normal
6. Left-click anywhere on the ToC field
7. Right-click and select Update Field

You will also find that if you use one of the heading styles on which the ToC is based the heading “Contents” or “Table of Contents” will appear in the ToC! If this happens, style the heading of the ToC with the style TOC Heading.

4. Update

The Table of Contents does not update automatically as the document is edited; updates must be performed manually by clicking on the field to select it:

1. Left-click on the Table of Contents field
2. Left-click on the Update Table button, or
3. Right-click on the Table of Contents field
4. Select the Update Field option
5. Select the Update entire table option
6. Left-click the OK button

5. Advanced

Because the Table of Contents is one of the fields in Word, you can use the Alt + f9 to toggle the field code on and off. I only include this as teachers might find it useful in marking practical papers.

References:

1. Microsoft Support. (2022). Field codes: TOC (Table of Contents) field. Available at: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/field-codes-toc-table-of-contents-field-1f538bc4-60e6-4854-9f64-67754d78d05c (Accessed: 9 October 2022)
2. Microsoft Community. (2022). How to prevent a TOC from including a reference/link to itself when both the TOC and the StyleRef fields use Heading 1 style to recognize/pick out titles. Available at: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/how-to-prevent-a-toc-from-including-a/dac6444f-46f4-4daa-a2d1-8e427513c790 (Accessed: 27 October 2022)