How to automatically generate a table of contents and index in Word

Key points of this article

The table of contents depends on the title style. The text title must use the built-in title style. You cannot just manually bold and increase the font size.
The index will not be automatically generated. You need to mark each index entry in the text before inserting it into the index page.
After modifying the content, the table of contents and index must be updated manually, otherwise the page numbers may not match.
The table of contents and index should be checked separately: the former looks at the title level, and the latter looks at whether all entries are marked or missing.

When writing a paper, tender, or report of dozens of pages, manually typing the table of contents will quickly cause problems: once the chapters are adjusted, the page numbers will no longer match. Word can actually automatically generate a table of contents based on the title style, but many people don't know that the index (that is, the table at the end of the book that is arranged by letters or strokes and lists the page numbers of the words) requires another set of processes and cannot be obtained directly from the table of contents function.

This article explains two things clearly: how to automatically generate a table of contents based on titles, and how to first mark entries in the index and then insert them. By following the order in the article, you can get the table of contents and index at the same time in the same document, and know how to update it after the content is changed.

How does Word automatically generate a table of contents and index? One sentence conclusion

The catalog is generated according to the title style, and the index is generated based on the entries you marked manually. The two data sources are different and should be done separately. First, the title style is set up, and the catalogue is in place in one step; the index needs to read through the document, mark the keywords one by one, and then insert them uniformly.

Your situation.	Recommended practice	Reason
Only need the chapter catalogue, and the title level is clear.	Apply the built-in title style to the title, and then insert the automatic catalog	The table of contents reads the title style directly without the need for additional tags
Indexing is required and there are not many entries (a dozen to dozens)	Mark the index items one by one, and then insert the index	Manual marking is more controllable when there are few entries, and it is easy to judge which ones should be included.
Index is required, with many entries and repetition	First mark once, and then use the function of batch marking the same entry	The same word appears many times in the whole text, and it is easy to miss when marking them one by one.
Documents need to be translated into other languages	Complete the directory and index in the source file first, and update it in Word after translation	The page number and entry position of the translation will change and need to be regenerated in the translation.

# before you start: confirm these points first

Check a few things before you start to avoid repeated rework later.

Is the heading hierarchy clear: The quality of the table of contents depends on the heading style. Use first-level headings for chapter titles and second-level headings for subsections. The table of contents generated by a document with a confusing hierarchy will also be confusing.
Whether the title style is used instead of manually bolding: Only the font size is changed to a larger and bolder title, and the table of contents function cannot recognize it. This is a common reason why directories are "blank" or have missing entries.
Whether the index entries have been determined: The index contains professional terms, names of people, places or concepts that readers will look up, not every word that appears. Making a list of terms first can reduce the arbitrariness of labeling.
Whether the page number settings are uniform: If the document is divided into sections, and the preface uses Roman numerals and the main text uses Arabic numerals, pay attention to whether the starting numbers between sections are correct for the table of contents page numbers.
Whether the original file is retained: Marking index entries and inserting directories will change the document structure. It is recommended to save a copy before proceeding.

# steps to generate a directory and add an index in Word

The following order applies to the shortcut keys and button positions of the Word,Mac version of the Windows version are slightly different, but the idea is the same.

apply the title style to the chapter title *: select the title such as "introduction to Chapter 1" and apply the first-level title style; the section applies the second-level title style. Keep the text style, do not use the heading style as the text paragraph.
insert automatic catalog : place the cursor where you want the directory to appear, and select an automatic directory style in the directory feature of Word. Word generates catalog entries and page numbers based on the title style you just had.
check the directory level : after the directory is generated, check whether the next and second-level headings are indented correctly. If a title does not appear, go back to the body to see if it really uses the title style.
Mark the first index entry : select a word in the text, such as "photosynthesis", and open the index entry marking dialog box (press Alt+Shift+X in Windows). Confirm the text of the main index item in the dialog box, click the mark button in the dialog box, and mark only the current place.
batch mark the same entry : if this word appears multiple times in the full text, use the batch tag option corresponding to the same entry in the full text in the same dialog box, and Word will index the same word in the full text. After marking, check whether individual contexts should really be included.
insert Index : place the cursor at the end of the document or in the appendix, use the index function of Word, select the index format (such as the number of columns and page number alignment), and let Word read all the tags and generate index pages.
update the field and check the page number : after the full text modification is completed, select all the documents (Ctrl+A), press F9 to update the field, and choose to update the entire catalog or the entire table. This step synchronizes the page numbers of the catalog and index.
Delete or hide tags : index tags exist in the form of hidden text. Before printing or exporting, make sure that the index field is displayed normally. Do not delete the tag by mistake, otherwise the index will become invalid.

Check each item after completion

After the catalogue and index are generated, it is recommended to read them item by item and correct them as soon as they are found.

Check item	What do you think?	What if there's a problem?
Whether the catalogue is missing chapters	Compare the title of the text to see if each chapter is in the catalog	Find the missing title, check whether it applies the title style, and update the catalogue after correction.
Does the page number of the directory correspond to each other?	Click on several directories at random and skip to the corresponding page to check	Update the entire directory; if it is still wrong, check the section and page number starting number
Whether the index entry is missing	Search the text for several keywords to see if they are all marked	Supplement the tag and update the index
Whether the index contains irrelevant words	Browse the index list to see if there are any common words that only appear in the introduction or thank you.	Delete the corresponding tag, or change it to a more precise primary index entry
Whether the terms in the translation are consistent	If the document has been translated, check the writing of the index words in the translation one by one	Retag and update the index after unifying the terminology

If the translation is generated by machine translation, it is recommended to manually check the important paragraphs, terms and numbers, and then generate the final catalogue and index.

# Core comparison

There are three common practices for generating directories and indexes, and the difference is mainly in terms of efficiency and error rate.

Practice	Appropriate document	Advantages	Shortcoming
Enter the directory manually	A short document with only a few pages and a fixed structure	There is no need to set the style	As soon as the chapter is changed, it has to be retyped, and the page number is easy to be wrong.
Title style generation catalog	A paper, report, tender with more chapters	Update after modification, page number synchronization	It is necessary to unify the title style in the early stage.
Title style with index mark	Professional books, technical manuals, dissertations	Catalogs and indexes can be updated automatically	Index entries need to be judged manually, which takes a long time.

# frequently asked questions (FAQ)

1. What if the directory entry cannot be found in the Word directory?

Usually the title does not use the title style. Select the title and make sure that it applies the primary or secondary title style, not the text style. Right-click on the directory to update after the change.

2. Can the index and catalog be marked with the same tag?

No, I can't. The catalog reads the title style, and the index reads manually marked index entries. The two do not affect each other and need to be done separately.

3. What if the page number doesn't match if the content of the text has been changed?

After selecting all documents, press F9, choose to update the entire catalog or the entire table, and then check the page number of the catalog and index. If the page number is still wrong after the section, go back to the page number setting and check the starting page number of each section.

4. My documents should be translated into other languages. What should I do with directories and indexes?

OmniDoc can translate Word (.docx) files and retain typesetting, tables, and pictures. After the translation comes out, the page numbers of the catalogue and index will change. It is suggested that the catalogue should be updated in the translation and the index entries should be re-marked according to the terms of the translation. The translation needs to be checked manually, especially technical terms and figures.

# Summary

The catalog of Word relies on the automatic generation of the title style, while the index needs to mark the entry first and then insert it, and the two need to be done separately. First straighten out the title level, then mark the index entries one by one, and finally uniformly update the domain, you can keep the catalog and index in sync with the text.

Open OmniDoc to edit and export documents online