Creating a Table of Contents from Heading Levels

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. (Click here to see a related figure.)
4. 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.
5. Using the Show Levels control, specify how many heading levels should be included in the TOC.
6. Click on OK.

If you are using Word 2007, then the steps are a bit different:

1. Position the insertion point where you want the TOC inserted.
2. Display the References tab of the ribbon.
3. Click Table of Contents in the Table of Contents group. Word displays a drop-down list of TOC options.
4. Choose Insert Table of Contents. Word displays the Table of Contents tab of the Table of Contents dialog box. (Click here to see a related figure.)
5. Make sure that the Formats drop-down list 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.