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How to create a table of contents in Microsoft Word

I like my dots aligned. That is why I was thrilled to finally figure out how to create a table of contents in MS Word. I’m sure this is super basic, but I was unawares, and thought I would share:

Step 1: Highlight your headers and format them using the header styles 1-3. The header styles should be under the “Home” tab.

MS Word

Step 2: Once your headers are formatted, hit the “References” tab and select the “table of contents” option.

MS Word

Word should automatically create a table of contents.

It will look something like this when complete:

MS Word

Also, remember that if you need a table of authorities for your brief, you can use a MS Word add-on called “Best Authority” from LexisNexis to automatically do that to. It’s amazing.

4 Comments

  • blawggz
    December 18, 2009 at 3:02 am

    haha i was editing a group paper weds and realized omg wtf how do i do an automated table of contents, word doesn’t even have help for it

    Reply
    • Jansen
      December 18, 2009 at 11:24 am

      Haha, I was super excited when I found out how to do it. You’re a favorite, Eric.

      Reply
  • Blawgs I Read: Dennis Jansen « 0L to 3L: My Journey to & through Law School
    June 25, 2010 at 6:41 am

    […] How to create a table of contents in Microsoft Word – self explanatory […]

    Reply
  • Staying organized in law school
    July 1, 2015 at 10:32 am

    […] is sort of like MS Word, but it looks like a binder. It has tabs, and auto-saves whatever you type. You can“print” PDFs […]

    Reply

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