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A table of contents is a list of the headings in a document. You can use a table of contents to get an overview of the topics discussed in a document.

Specifying entries: heading styles or outline levels

If you have applied built-in heading styles (heading style: Formatting applied to a heading. Microsoft Word has nine different built-in styles: Heading 1 through Heading 9.) or other types of styles to the headings in a document, the entries in your table of contents can include the text of the headings. Similarly, if you use outline-level (outline level: Paragraph formatting you can use to assign a hierarchical level (Level 1 through Level 9) to paragraphs in your document. For example, after you assign outline levels, you can work with the document in outline view or in the Document Map.) formatting in your document, the entries in your table of contents can include the text at the different outline levels.

You create a table of contents by specifying which heading styles — for example, Heading 1, Heading 2, and Heading 3 — or outline levels you want to include. Word searches for headings that match the specified style or outline level, formats and indents the entry text according to the heading style or level, and then inserts the table of contents into the document.

Choosing a table of contents to fit the document format

In addition to specifying which headings to include, you can specify whether to add page numbers or hyperlinks (hyperlink: Colored and underlined text or a graphic that you click to go to a file, a location in a file, a Web page on the World Wide Web, or a Web page on an intranet. Hyperlinks can also go to newsgroups and to Gopher, Telnet, and FTP sites.) and how to format the entries.

Printed document  If you are creating a document that readers will read on a printed page, create a table of contents in which each entry lists both the heading and the page number where the heading appears. Readers can turn to the page they want.

Online document  For a document that will be read online in Word, you can format entries in the table of contents as hyperlinks so that readers can go to a heading by clicking its entry in the table of contents.

Web page  For a document that you save as a Web page, you can create a table of contents in a Web frame. Readers can use the hyperlinks in a separate region of the browser window to navigate through the document easily.

Customizing the appearance

When you create a table of contents, Word formats the entries by applying built-in styles, such as TOC 1 and TOC 2. You can customize these styles by changing the font, font color, and other formatting characteristics. You can also format a table of contents by choosing a predefined format, such as Classic, Formal, or Simple.

To use additional options for customizing the table of contents, you can use fields (field: A set of codes that instructs Microsoft Word to insert text, graphics, page numbers, and other material into a document automatically. For example, the DATE field inserts the current date.). For example, you can use the \n switch in the TC field to omit page numbers from part of the table of contents.