How to create automatic table of contents in Word 2016 simple and fast

With long texts, many headings, creating a table of contents is essential, helping to shorten the time to look up headings, convenient for reading and editing. However, if you create the table of contents manually, you will not only have to spend a lot of time, but also will not be able to access the items to find automatically. For quick, simple, convenient for later use, please see the following article to know how to create automatic table of contents in Word 2016.

Step 1: Determine the level of each heading

To create an automatic table of contents in Word 2016, you first need to identify headings from big to small in the text.

Method 1: Use the Heading level

Highlight the content you want to make headings, in the Home tab select Heading with the corresponding level (Heading 1 is the largest heading level, then Heading 2 and Heading 3 .). Do so with all headings from large to small.

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* Tip: You can reset the text format (font, size, bold, .) of each Heading style by right-clicking on that Heading style and selecting Modify .

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Method 2: Mark the level (level) of the headings

Highlight the content you want to be a heading, open the References tab , in the Table of Contents group click on Add Text , then select the Level you want to apply to the highlighted paragraph (Level 1 is the highest level, then Level 2 and Level 3 .).

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* Note: Normally, there are 3 levels for you to choose by default, but if the text has more than 3 levels of hierarchy, you can increase the number of levels by clicking on Table of Contents and Custom Table of Contents . and change the value in the Show levels box . After clicking OK , the table of contents will immediately be created at the position of the mouse cursor, but if not complete, you can delete or update it later.

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Step 2: Create an automatic table of contents

- Place the cursor in the position where you want to display the table of contents (usually the first or last page of the text).

- Open the References tab , click Table of Contents and select the table of contents display form (there are templates available for you to choose). After this operation, the table of contents will appear.

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- You can also change some table display customizations. Click on Table of Contents à Custom Table of Contents . On the Table of Contents tab customize the following settings:

+ Show page numbers : Display the page number corresponding to the title of the item.

+ Right align page numbers : Display the page number at the right margin (if unchecked, the page number will be immediately after the title name).

+ Tab leader : Form of alignment, comparing between the title of the page and the page number (using a series of dots, dashes, or blank).

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And here is the final result:

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So you know how to create automatic table of contents in Word 2016 already! But if you later need to edit the text, add (or edit, delete) a certain title, or change the number of pages, of course you will have to update the table of contents. So how to update automatically and fastest? Read on for the instructions below.

Instructions to update the table of contents automatically in Word 2016

When there is a change in the content of the headings (title, page number, etc.), you can update the table of contents automatically in one of three ways:

Method 1: On the References tab , Table of Contents group , click on Update Table

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Method 2: Right-click on the table of contents and select Update Field

Method 3: Click on the table of contents, in the upper border of the frame surrounding the table of contents, click on Update Table

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Either way, you'll receive a notification with two options:

- Update page numbers only (only update the page numbers)

- Update entire table ( update the entire table )

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In case there is only a change in the number of pages, please choose the first update style, because it does not affect the format and style of the text in the table of contents (for example, font, size, font color, bold). , .) if you correct it.

I wish you success with instructions to create automatic table of contents in Word 2016 as above!