Writing Resources

To generate a table of contents in Microsoft Word, use the following instructions.

• Make sure all headings that should appear in the table of contents are tagged with the appropriate style. For instructions, see our page The Styles Pane​.
• Place the cursor on the page where the table of contents should be.
• Click the References tab.
• Click the “Table of Contents" button. On the drop-down menu, select “Custom Table of Contents."
• Make sure the number of levels to be displayed is correct, according to how many heading levels are present in the document.
• Click “Modify." The new dialogue box lists each table of contents (TOC) level. TOC 1 corresponds to Heading 1, and so forth. Make sure each TOC level matches APA or Saybrook Handbook of Format & Style requirements by clicking TOC 1 so that it is blue, clicking “Modify," and adjusting the preset formatting rules as needed. Click “Okay." Repeat this process for each TOC level needed. When all formatting has been adjusted, click “Okay." The table of contents should be generated wherever the cursor is.

Anything that is tagged with a Heading style will be pulled into the table of contents and formatted there according to the TOC formatting input.

If a video walkthrough is beneficial, check out Microsoft 365's video “How to add a table of contents in Microsoft Word." This video presents the basic instructions for generating a table of contents. Additionally, check out Microsoft's webpage “Format or customize a table of contents" for more details on how to make modifications to the table.

Updating the Entire Table of Contents: During the writing and revision process, headings may be added, deleted, or edited in the body of the paper. Rather than typing in new headings or editing headings in the table of contents manually, the table of contents can be automatically updated to match the document.

• Right-click anywhere over the table of contents.
• Select “Update Field."
• Select “Update entire table," then click “Okay."

Updating Page Numbers in the Table of Contents: Headings may shift to different pages during revision. The page numbers of a table of contents generated in Microsoft Word can be automatically updated.

• Right-click over the page numbers.
• Select “Update Field."
• Select “Update page numbers only," then click “Okay." 

Some longer works (e.g., dissertations) that use tables and/or figures must have a corresponding list of tables and/or figures. See ​Formatting Tables & Figures​ for more information about what lists of tables and/or figures are, what documents require them, and how they should be formatted.

The video How to Insert a List of Tables or Figures in Word from the Research Masterminds YouTube channel provides a thorough explanation of how to insert a list of tables or figures into your Word document. Watch the video or use the following instructions to insert a list of tables/figures.

1. Highlight the name of the first table or figure (such as “Table 1").
2. On the References tab, select “Insert Caption."
3. In the window that pops up, make sure the Label is set to the correct type, either “Table" or “Figure." Click “Okay." This usually changes the font of the table/figure name so that it is formatted incorrectly.
4. Edit the font of the table/figure name so that it is formatted correctly.
5. Then, highlight the corrected font, go to the Home tab, and in “Styles," find the S​​tyle box marked “Caption."
6. Right-click “Caption" and select “Update Caption to Match Selection." This will keep Microsoft Word from changing the font formatting of any other table/figure names that still need to be captioned.
7. Proceed with captioning the rest of the tables/figures in order, following the steps given, with the exception of steps 4, 5, and 6, as there should be no need to edit font formatting.

Once all tables/figures are captioned, the list is ready to be generated.

1. Put the cursor in the spot where the list of tables/figures should appear.
2. Open the References tab and click “Insert Table of Figures."
3. Under, “General," make sure the proper Caption label is selected, “Tables" or “Figures" depending on which list is being generated.
4. The layout of the list can be modified by selecting “Modify," “Modify," and then updating formatting settings as needed.
5. Click “Okay" to generate the list of tables/figures.
6. If a second list is needed, insert a page break and follow the same instructions to generate the next list. ​