The easiest way to build and maintain a table of contents is with styles.

Headings formatted with theH1style become main topics, while headings formatted withH2become subtopics.

SelectTable of Contentsand choose one of the automatic styles.

Word with the References tab highlighted

For Word 2003 and earlier, selectInsert>Reference>Tables and Indexes, then select theTable of Contentsoption.

The table of contents appears in the location you selected.

Then, choose to either update page numbers only or the entire table of contents.

Table of Contents button in Word

To use a hyperlink, hover the mouse over the appropriate entry in the table andControl+Clickto follow the link.

This is an especially helpful tool for long documents.

There are also many ways to customize a table of contents.

A table of contents in a Word document with the Update Table button highlighted

To access advanced font customization options, select theMore Optionsicon.

Additionally, to find more customization options, right-opt for table and selectEdit Field.

Scroll down and selectTOC, then chooseTable of Contents.