2 Ways to Create an Automated Table of Contents in Ms. Word (100% Neat)

In this tutorial, I will explain how to create an automatic table of contents in Word 2007, 2010, 2021 or above.

Creating a table of contents automatically or manually depends on your needs and tastes. But I prefer to auto-generate the table of contents because more simple and practical.

In the past I was often asked to write papers by my teacher, and usually I often worked in groups.

If there is a task like this, I am usually in charge of compiling the paper as well as making a list of its contents. Another friend of mine is in charge of collecting reference sources, some are just printing and some are just names.

Notes: This tutorial applies to all versions of Microsoft Office, from Office 2007, 2010, 2021, 2021 to the most recent versions.

How to Create an Automated Table of Contents in Word

Creating a table of contents automatically is simple and efficient. So, you only need to determine which text or sentence is included headings. After that use the tool table of content, finished. A table of contents will appear for your word document with the page numbers neatly arranged. Well, see the steps on how to create a table of contents in Word as follows:

Open Your Word Document

First of all, open your word document. For example, I have a word document about Definition and Function of Hub which I attached below.

Please take a look at my document, because I will use it as a reference to explain the steps to create a table of contents automatically.

Creating an Automated Table of Contents

As I mentioned, to create a table of contents automatically, it is necessary to have text or sentences used heading or sometimes called level. In Microsoft Word, we only recognize headings 1 to 3 or levels 1 to 3.
Confused about headings 1 through 3? Well, look at the picture below, you will definitely understand what is meant by heading or level:
Well, for example, I want to create a table of contents for my word document (the document I attached above). I want the table of contents to look something like the following image:
I assume you already understand what a heading (level) is in word. For the top position is called heading 1, below it there is heading 2 and below it is heading 3. What we have to do next is make the text or sentence that I have given Red box Becomes heading 1. And for the text or sentence I gave blue box made heading 2.
Select any text you want to use as heading 1, for example Chapter I: Definition of Hub. Then select Heading 1 as I have marked with the arrow.
The text color will automatically turn blue. That’s not a problem because you can change it later.
The important thing is to make it a heading first. Don’t forget to change the text that I have given a red box like Chapter II: Miscellaneous Hubs, Chapter III: Hub Functions and Chapter IV: Closing as heading 1.
Select any text you want to use as heading 2, for example Active Hub. Then select Heading 2 as I have marked with the arrow.
Similar to heading 1, the text color will also change to blue but with a smaller font size. Once again I emphasize, you can change it later according to the color and font size you want. Make sure you also change the text that I have given the blue box to heading 2.
Let’s say we’ve made all the text or sentences that are in the red box into heading 1 and those in the blue box into heading 2. Next, hover over the top page (first page) of your word document. Then select the tab REFERENCES.
choose Table of Contents, then select Automatic Table 1. You can also choose Automatic Table 2 because the two are not much different (better just follow the steps I described).
The table of contents will automatically be created as shown in the image below.
Next you just change the text Content Becomes TABLE OF CONTENTS and place it in the center. You can also change the color, size or bold font as you wish. Until it ended up like this:

That’s a tutorial on how to easily create an automatic table of contents in word. The table of contents that you will make later is guaranteed to be neat. You don’t need to create a table of contents manually, as this will definitely take a lot of time.

In the tutorial above I only use heading 1 to heading 2 only. You can use heading 3 according to your word document needs.

I emphasize once again, the key to creating a table of contents automatically in word lies in understanding the headings or levels.

Once you understand the use of these headings, you should be able to create a table of contents automatically as I explained above. But if there are some things that still make you confused about how to create an automatic table of contents in word, please leave a comment below.