How to make a table of contents in Word?

Any work always begins with the development of an action plan, and ends with a verification of the implementation of this plan. Including this rule relates to writing a course, thesis, a paper. Work on the abstract begins with the creation of an approximate plan, approval of it from the scientific leader. After the task is completed, and the abstract is considered ready, it must be properly issued. Often, correctly formatted content is a prerequisite for accepting work for verification, so you need to know how to make a table of contents in Word.

Of course, you can do it yourself, carefully reviewing the work, collecting headings, subtitles, paragraphs for the table of contents, fixing the page numbers. First, this process takes you a long time. Secondly, if you have to correct something, the page numbers will change, the content will have to be altered. In addition, not always this content will look neat enough. Therefore, it is better to know how to make the table of contents in Word automatically. Then the program will not only collect it independently, but it can easily update the pages after editing the text.

How to make the table of contents automatically?

Before you ask yourself how to create a table of contents in Word, you need to understand that in this program, the design unit is paragraphs. That is, you can create a certain style of design and apply it to any of them. Styles are in the "Home" tab. If you change the style settings, you will automatically change the formatting of the paragraphs to which it was applied. This will save you time when you work in accordance with established requirements. In the program there are already several ready-made styles, and you can make corrections to them yourself.

Now let's return to the question of how to make a table of contents in the Word. This text editor is able to independently insert a table of contents and design it. In order for the content of the work to be collected automatically, headings and subtitles in the text should be marked with styles of a certain level. The titles of the chapters in the work and the headings are marked by the style "Heading 1". The work items are marked by the style "Heading 2", and the sub-items - "Heading 3" and so on. When the work is completed, on the second page after the title page the word "Table of contents" is written. Then the mouse pointer is placed in the next paragraph. In the "Links" tab we find the table of contents, choose the style for its design. In the old version of the program, the table of contents was in the "Insert" menu. To customize the content format, select the "Table of Contents" line at the bottom of the pop-up window. Here we can select the filler, remove or insert hyperlinks, select the page number format and the number of levels. After clicking on the button "Ok" the program will go through the text and automatically collect the content according to the selected parameters.

If your work is large enough, for example, it takes more than 100-200 pages, it makes sense to think about how to make a table of contents in Word, at the initial stages of the work. For example, immediately create headings and subtitles of the corresponding style, and then disclose them. It will be more convenient for you to work with the text. And you do not have to search for items and sub-items every time, because automatic content allows you to go directly to the required page. To do this, just hold down the "Ctrl" button on the keyboard and click on the desired page with the mouse. If any item is changed or added, then the content is better to update immediately. Another advantage of the table of contents is that it will allow us to evaluate the structure of the work as a whole.

Now you almost know how to make a table of contents in Word. However, be sure to review it carefully, make sure that it includes all chapters and work items.

Changes in the table of contents

If the text changes after the table of contents has already been prepared, do not worry. You just need to place the mouse cursor on the content of the work, click on the right button and select the item "Update whole" or "update only page numbers" in the menu that appears. If the text has been changed slightly, and the headings and names of the sections remain the same, it will be enough to update only the pages.

If you still have questions, you can always refer to the "Help" item in the "File" tab and read more about the content design. And you will succeed.