Format or customize a table of contents

When you create a table of contents in Word, you can modify the way it looks. For example, you can select how many heading levels to include and whether to show dotted lines between the entries and the page numbers. You can also change the formatting of the text, and Word will keep that formatting no matter how many times you update the table of contents.

Note: If you're using Word 2016 for Mac, see Format or customize a table of contents in Word 2016 for Mac

Change the layout of your table of contents

1. On the References tab of the Ribbon click Table of Contents > Custom Table of Contents.

   

2. Make your changes in the Table of Contents dialog box. You'll see what they look like in the Print Preview and Web Preview areas.

   • To add a dot leader, or dotted line, between each entry and its page number, click the Tab leader list and then click the dotted line. You can also choose a dash leader or remove the leader entirely and just have a blank space.

     

   • To change the overall appearance of your table of contents, click the Formats list, and then click the format that you want.

   • To change the number of levels displayed in your table of contents, click Show levels, and then click the number of levels you want.

   

   Tip: "Levels" in this context refers to your heading levels. You may have Heading 1 for your major headings then Heading 2 for your subsections of those headings. You can have even more sub-levels within those that in your table of contents if you choose.

3. Click OK.

Format the text in your table of contents

To change how the text in your table of contents looks, change the style for each level in the table of contents.

1. On the References tab of the Ribbon click Table of Contents > Custom Table of Contents.

2. In the Table of Contents dialog box, click Modify. If the Modify button is grayed out, change Formats to From template.

   

3. In the Styles list, click the level that you want to change and then click Modify.

   

4. In the Modify Style dialog box, make the formatting changes that you want, and then click OK.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for all the levels that you want to display in your table of contents.

Word will remember these customizations each time you update the table of contents in this document.

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See Also

Create a table of contents

Insert a table of figures

Introduction to Tables of Contents (TOCs) - A free, 3 minute, video training