Create a table of contents in Word
If at some point you are faced with the task of writing a longer essay on a specific topic, then you can not really get around a table of contents.
In addition, of course, this table of contents should not only map the content, but also be a navigation with it, and may contain sub-items.
You will find out how to create a dynamic table of contents in Word in our article.
Create a table of contents in Word
If at some point you are faced with the task of writing a longer essay on a specific topic, then you can not really get around a table of contents.
In addition, of course, this table of contents should not only map the content, but also be a navigation with it, and may contain sub-items.
You will find out how to create a dynamic table of contents in Word in our article.
Before we begin to create our headings, I recommend first as a preparatory step, a blank page for the later table of contents einzufpfllegen. Because experience shows that once the headings are formatted as such are always fiddly, and no one needs that.
- Let’s first place our cursor in front of the first word on the first page of our document
- Then go to the tab “Paste” and there to “Empty page”
This simply creates a page break, and we have a blank page that we can later use for the table of contents.
Please also read our article: How to move pages in Word
See picture: (click to enlarge)
Before we begin to create our headings, I recommend first as a preparatory step, a blank page for the later table of contents einzufpfllegen. Because experience shows that once the headings are formatted as such are always fiddly, and no one needs that.
- Let’s first place our cursor in front of the first word on the first page of our document
- Then go to the tab “Paste” and there to “Empty page”
This simply creates a page break, and we have a blank page that we can later use for the table of contents.
Please also read our article: How to move pages in Word
See picture: (click to enlarge)

So that your table of contents works later as it should, and is accordingly dynamic, the headings of the individual sections must first be formatted correctly.
In the first example, we will start with just one level first.
- To do this, first mark all headings of the corresponding sections.
- Then click on “Heading 1” under the “Start” tab in the style sheets.
Then you can immediately see that Word has automatically numbered here.
See picture: (click to enlarge)
The formatting of the text which should serve as a headline is an elementary step so that Word knows later that it is a heading. It is not enough to simply put numbers in front of the desired headlines by hand, and then underline them for your sake and fat or similar. display.
So that your table of contents works later as it should, and is accordingly dynamic, the headings of the individual sections must first be formatted correctly.
In the first example, we will start with just one level first.
- To do this, first mark all headings of the corresponding sections.
- Then click on “Heading 1” under the “Start” tab in the style sheets.
Then you can immediately see that Word has automatically numbered here.
See picture: (click to enlarge)


The formatting of the text which should serve as a headline is an elementary step so that Word knows later that it is a heading. It is not enough to simply put numbers in front of the desired headlines by hand, and then underline them for your sake and fat or similar. display.
The more extensive your work becomes, the more it may be necessary to re-divide sections into sections that would otherwise become too cluttered. Therefore, in this section, we will focus on creating multi-level headings.
- First mark all headings of the incl. The planned second level
- Then go to the “Start” tab in the “List Library” and there to the item “Title structure”
Now all planned headlines (including those of the second outline level) are marked as a list.
- Now format the highlighted headings with Heading 1 (under Styles)
- Then just mark the desired second level headers
- Now change the list level under “Numbering Library” in the “Start” tab
See picture: (click to enlarge)
Here, too, we see that Word has formatted the corresponding second level headings with 3.1, 3.2, and so on. These can not be changed manually like this anymore.
The more extensive your work becomes, the more it may be necessary to re-divide sections into sections that would otherwise become too cluttered. Therefore, in this section, we will focus on creating multi-level headings.
- First mark all headings of the incl. The planned second level
- Then go to the “Start” tab in the “List Library” and there to the item “Title structure”
Now all planned headlines (including those of the second outline level) are marked as a list.
- Now format the highlighted headings with Heading 1 (under Styles)
- Then just mark the desired second level headers
- Now change the list level under “Numbering Library” in the “Start” tab
See picture: (click to enlarge)


Here, too, we see that Word has formatted the corresponding second level headings with 3.1, 3.2, and so on. These can not be changed manually like this anymore.
Often it is also the case that you would like to indent the headings of the second level in order to visually distinguish them from the rest.
This can be arranged in the headings by changing the heading 2 style, and the texts below can then be easily accessed by enlarging the indentation.
Certainly in Word (as in all Office programs) there are many ways to Rome, but this is just one way to do it all. Incidentally, you can change all the possible parameters (color, font, etc.) under the styles we have just changed, or create completely your own and save them either only for the current document or in general.
In the end, the whole thing should look like this:
See picture: (click to enlarge)
Often it is also the case that you would like to indent the headings of the second level in order to visually distinguish them from the rest.
This can be arranged in the headings by changing the heading 2 style, and the texts below can then be easily accessed by enlarging the indentation.
Step 1:
Select the headings of the 2nd level and click on “Change” in the context menu.
See picture:

Step 2:
In the dialog box for the changes, click on “Format” and then on “Paragraph”
See picture:

Step 4:
Select the text paragraphs under the second level headings and enlarge the left indent
See picture:

Certainly in Word (as in all Office programs) there are many ways to Rome, but this is just one way to do it all. Incidentally, you can change all the possible parameters (color, font, etc.) under the styles we have just changed, or create completely your own and save them either only for the current document or in general.
In the end, the whole thing should look like this:
See picture:

Now that we have completed the headings of the first and second levels, we can build into the very first empty page created at the beginning.
- For this we simply place the cursor on top of the first page
- Then click on “Table of Contents” in the “References” tab
Here you can now select an existing style sheet (usually enough), or you can create a completely new template according to your own ideas.
Of course, if you later make changes to the document, you can easily update it by going to the table of contents and clicking Update Table of Contents
See picture: (click to enlarge)
Now that we have completed the headings of the first and second levels, we can build into the very first empty page created at the beginning.
- For this we simply place the cursor on top of the first page
- Then click on “Table of Contents” in the “References” tab
Here you can now select an existing style sheet (usually enough), or you can create a completely new template according to your own ideas.
Of course, if you later make changes to the document, you can easily update it by going to the table of contents and clicking Update Table of Contents
See picture: (click to enlarge)
Change table of contents:

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