Create a table of contents in Microsoft Word with custom styles

by Mark Kaelin | Mar 23, 2006 8:55:00 AM

Tags: Word processors, Microsoft Office, Mark Kaelin, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Word

Takeaway: Microsoft Word has a built-in feature for creating a table of contents. Learn how to substitute your own custom styles for the default styles.

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Problem

Microsoft Word has long had the built-in ability to create a table of contents (index, table of figures, and table of authorities are also part of the feature). This utility, found under the Insert | References menu, works well if you follow the default Word styles for headings, subheadings, figures, footnotes, etc.

However, if you use custom styles in your documents, this automated creation function was very limited or non-existent, depending on how custom you chose to get. But Word does allow you to substitute your custom styles for the default styles, reviving the feature for even the most colorful of custom styles.

Solution

Step 1

Before you can use it to create a table of contents, you first have to create a set of styles. In Word 2003, you can create styles by clicking the double-A (AA) button on the Formatting toolbar, or by navigating to the Format | Styles and Formatting menu.

Once you create your new style, for top level headings (Heading 1) for example, you can highlight that text and click the New Style button on the Styles and Formatting window, similar to Figure A.

Figure A

Custom style

Step 2

Once you have a set of styles created to your satisfaction, you can then specify which level (TOC 1, 2, 3 …) each style will represent in your table of contents. This is accomplished by navigating to Insert | Reference | Index And Tables and then clicking the Options button on the Table Of Contents tab. On the ensuing dialog screen, you can then specify your hierarchy as shown in Figure B.

Figure B

TOC hierarchy

After clicking the OK button a couple of times, you will have inserted a table of contents for your document. However, you will also notice that the table is displayed in the default style. If you want to apply your custom style to the table of contents, you have one more step.

Step 3

Now that you have established a set of custom styles, you can apply those styles to other parts of the document including the table of contents. Navigate To Insert | Reference | Index And Tables and click on the Modify button on the Table Of Contents tab; then click the Modify button again for each level. On the ensuing dialog screen, you can change the styles associated for each level in the hierarchy (Figure C).

Figure C

Modify TOC styles

Obviously, the styles shown in the figures are a little over the top, but the principles are the same no matter what custom styles you want to implement.

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