Insert a table of contents

Applies To
Word for Microsoft 365 Word for Microsoft 365 for Mac Word 2024 Word 2024 for Mac Word 2021 Word 2021 for Mac Word 2019 Word 2016

A table of contents in Word is based on the headings in your document.

Create the table of contents

  1. Put your cursor where you want to add the table of contents.
  2. Go to References > Table of Contents. and choose an automatic style.
    Create a table of contents
  3. If you make changes to your document that affect the table of contents, update the table of contents by right-clicking the table of contents and choosing Update Field.

To update your table of contents manually, see Update a table of contents.

If you have missing entries

Missing entries often happen because headings aren't formatted as headings.

  1. For each heading that you want in the table of contents, select the heading text.

  2. Go to Home > Styles, and then choose Heading 1.

    Add a heading

  3. Update your table of contents.

To update your table of contents manually, see Update a table of contents.

Go to the tutorial

In desktop Word, go to File > New, and search for table of contents.

See Also

Update a table of contents