

Simply click update to be sure you have the latest version of your table of contents.Apply and Customize Headings in Word Documentsīy Avantix Learning Team | Updated April 19, 2022Īpplies to: Microsoft ® Word ® 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021 or 365 (Windows)

This way, you don’t have to manually type in or add anything to the table everytime you want to add headings. Any further changes will be automatically reflected on your actual table of contents. If, for example, you have made changes to your document and need to increase or decrease your headers, you can just go back to the customization window of the table of contents settings. Once you click OK, your table of contents will automatically reflect the changes you have made, provided that you indeed have 6 headings in your document. If you need more, you only have to change the value to 6, for example, so it will show headings 1 through 6. Your table of contents will then show only Heading 1 and Heading 2. If you only need two headings, you can set the value to 2. Here, there’s a field that says ‘Show Levels’ so you can customize it. You can find, at the bottom of this customization window, a ‘General’ section. If you want more levels, you only have to change the levels shown in the table of contents. At first, it will show you its default setting, which is a table of contents for up to three levels. Select ‘Custom Table of Contents’ which you can find somewhere at the very bottom of the options.Īfter clicking this option, a customization window for a customizable table of contents will open. Scroll down the drop-down menu of pre-designed choices. Once you’re done and ready for your table of contents, simply go to the Reference tab on the Ribbon. Make sure you add the headings and sub-headings to keep your document structured and organized. Multiple Heading Levels for Table of Contentsįirst, create your document or open an already existing one from your computer. In order to do this, you must first create your automatic table of contents in Word. For documents or manuscripts that are dense with information, you may have up to 5 or more heading levels that you need to include in your table of contents.Īlternatively to Word, you can create amazing table of contents slides in PowerPoint. By default, the auto-generated table of contents only show the first three heading levels you have created throughout your document. The problem with having many heading levels, however, is that all of them may not show on your table of contents.

As a writer, this can serve as your guide so you can further expound on your ideas and be specific instead of vague, which is not good in writing. The different levels of headings can easily show readers specific topics or point of interests under one subject. If you’re writing a really long document with thousands of pages, you may probably use dozens, if not hundreds, of headings at different levels. Headings are also useful for separating topics to subtopics and enumerating different points under one main topic, and so on. It can serve as a guide for readers to know what they are going to read next. Headings are great for separating your multiple topics and keeping them all organized.

Use Headings for Organizing Your Documents
