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 TOC that Includes Specific Styles.

Creating a TOC that Includes Specific Styles

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 21, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


The normal way to create a table of contents (TOC) is to let Word automatically create one based upon the headings in a document. Each paragraph formatted with the Heading 1 style, Heading 2 style, or Heading 3 style is automatically pulled into the TOC.

There may be times when you want to create a TOC that includes paragraph styles other than the heading styles. For instance, you might have a paragraph style you've created for a specific purpose, such as for denoting all the product names in a document. You don't want to format these product names as headings; you instead want to format them with a special paragraph format that calls them out in some manner specific to your needs. (Let's say that you use the style named SpecialProduct for this purpose.) If you then, later, want to include those product names in a special TOC, you can follow these steps:

  1. Position the insertion point at the location in the document where you want the table.
  2. Choose Index and Tables from the Insert menu (Word 97 and Word 2000) or choose Reference from the Insert menu, then choose Index and Tables from the resulting submenu (Word 2002 and Word 2003). Word displays the Index and Tables dialog box.
  3. Click on the Table of Contents tab. (See Figure 1.)
  4. Figure 1. The Table of Contents tab of the Index and Tables dialog box.

  5. Click on the Options button. Word displays the Table of Contents Options dialog box. (See Figure 2.)
  6. Figure 2. The Table of Contents Options dialog box.

  7. Change the TOC Level column so that a 4 appears next to the SpecialProduct style. This indicates that you want any paragraphs that are formatted using the SpecialProduct style to end up in the TOC and be formatted in that table with the TOC 4 style.
  8. Make sure there are no other numbers in the TOC Level column.
  9. Click OK to close the Table of Contents Options dialog box.
  10. Click OK to close the Index and Tables dialog box and generate the table of contents.

The result of creating this TOC in this way is that you have a list of all your products, and they are formatted in the list using the TOC 4 style. You can modify the TOC 4 style to reflect how you want the products to appear in the TOC.

You'll note that these steps used TOC level 4 (the TOC 4 style) for the products. The reason for this is simple—it allows you to leave TOC levels 1 through 3 (the TOC 1, TOC 2, and TOC 3 styles) for use in the regular TOC for the document. That way you can use different formatting for the regular TOC and the special product list TOC.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (7000) 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 TOC that Includes Specific Styles.

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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Default Font for Page Numbers

Page numbers are a common addition to documents, and a great aid to readers. If you want to easily format page numbers, ...

Discover More

Adding a Border Around Text in a Chart

You can included text in your charts, and even place a border around the text.

Discover More

Disappearing Readability Statistics

Word provides some handy document analysis that can help improve your writing. One such tool is the readability ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2013. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2013 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Using Multiple Tables of Contents

Adding multiple tables of contents is a must for some types of document design. Here's a great overview of how you can ...

Discover More

Insert a TOC without Upsetting Pagination

Insert a table of contents in your document, and your page numbering may get thrown for a loop. If you want the page ...

Discover More

Jumping Back to the TOC

Word allows you to create a table of contents that provides hyperlinks to headings within your document. It doesn't make ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is five less than 7?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.