Automating a contents page in Word

We know there is an automated way to get this done, but if you’re not aware of one little step, things may not go so smoothly. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to set one up, make changes, the all important ‘rule’ and how to go about creating your own templates if your dare!

For Word 2007

Firstly, leave a blank page at the beginning of your document which is where your contents will go. The best way for you to do this, is by going to the Insert tab, then selecting Page Break. You can now start working on your document.

IMPORTANT: For you to use an automatic table of contents, you must use ‘styles’ for your headings. You can find the styles on the Home tab.

Then highlight the words you want as a heading  with either  the ‘Heading 1’, ‘Heading 2’ or ‘Heading 3’ styles.

When you’ve done this and you think you’re ready for a contents page (don’t worry of you’re not as you don’t need to have the document fully completed to create a contents page, you can update as you go), go to References tab > Table of Contents, and click Table of Contents.

Your contents page when then appear.

If you want to update your table at any time, you can either:

1.  Click anywhere on the contents followed by F9, or
2.  Go to References tab > Table of Contents, click Update Table; and then  select one of the prompts. We suggest ‘update entire table’ as it will not only pick up changes in page numbers but any new or deleted headings.
3. Click at the top of the table and then click ‘Update Table’

If you don’t like the default contents, you can create your own.  For example you might not want to use ‘ ………. ‘, you might want the page numbers on the left, or you may need more than 3 types of headers.

To get started, go to References tab > Table of Contents > Insert Table of Contents.

From here, simply change what you need, making sure you also click on Options… and Modify… so you can look at all the changes that are available to you.

Have more questions or need help? Contact Gizmo on 1300 275 449 or help@gizmo.com.au