Using Word to Write your Thesis: Making a Table of Contents, Inserting Captions, and Crossreferencing

By Lauren Tebay
- 22nd October, 2014

In the last post I showed you how to make an outline for your thesis in Word.
You should now have a document outline with a list of headings for your
sections (maybe even a few sections filled in if you were feeling motivated to
make a start!). From here, we can move on to:

Setting up a Table of Contents,

Learning to insert captions which will make compiling a List of Figures/Tables
at the end a painless process
Learning how to cross-reference your document, so that figures or paragraphs
that you refer to in the body text are always numbered correctly, even when
you move things around.

Automatically generating a Table of Contents

A thesis requires a detailed table of contents that lists the headings and page
numbers of each section. Rather than manually scrolling through your
document making notes of where everything is (and having to go back and
change numbers every time you add something new or move a section) why
not let Word do all the hard work?
When your document is properly laid out, generating a Table of Contents in
Word is as simple as 1, 2, 3 (something my silly undergraduate self could
sorely have done with knowing 3 years ago!!).
With the cursor at the start of the document where you want to insert the
Table of Contents:
1. Click the references tab
2. Select Table of Contents
3. Pick a style

Done. Its that easy when you have things set up properly!
The Table of Contents will be generated automatically using the different
levels of heading that you defined when you set up your outline. This is why
its really important to use the headings from the styles gallery rather than
just manually changing the size and font that youre using!!!!

Dont forget, if you move things around, add bits in or remove others, you
should update your Table of Contents too!
Return to the Table of Contents options in the References tab and select
Update Table.

Inserting captions
After a Table of Contents, most theses also include a List of Tables and a List
of Figures. To make compiling this list less difficult, you can use a specific
kind of label each time you insert tables and figures that will allow you to
generate the list automatically in Word.

To do this:
1. Go to the References tab and click on Insert caption

2. Select a label from the dropdown list for what you are inserting
i.e. Table or Figure and press OK.

3. Next to the caption Table 1, add a title for your table, which will appear in
the list of tables.
4. When adding a figure legend for tables or figures, make sure to go to the
next line after the title to ensure the entire legend doesnt get included in
the list!
Create a list

Once your figures and tables have been captioned, inserting a list is very
similar to how you created a Table of Contents.
With the cursor at the point where you want to insert the list:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Click the References tab

Click Insert table of figures
Select a caption label (table or figure)
Click OK

Update

Ideally you will be inserting lists of figures and tables at the end when the
layout of your thesis is pretty much finalized. However if you need to move
your tables or figures around and the order or page number changes, dont
forget to update your list!
1. Click anywhere on the list to highlight it
2. Click Update table

And done! I repeat its that easy!

Cross-referencing
Another useful tool found in the References tab is the Cross-reference button
Cross-referencing allows you to link back to other paragraphs, tables or
figures referring to them in your body text.
Cross-referencing is useful for not only creating a hyperlink in the text for
you to jump back and forth, but also for keeping your referenced paragraph,
table and figure numbers up to date if you need to move them about. This
saves you the trouble of going back and re-numbering every paragraph
where you have mentioned a figure or table whose number has now
changed!
***A small warning with this one, sometimes it doesnt automatically update
immediately if after saving and re-opening your document it has still not
updated, you might need to insert or update the List of Figures or Tables for
the document to recognise that things have been moved a little bit so dont
panic too much!***
Using Word to automatically generate your Table of Contents, Lists of Figures
or Tables and to ensure that your internal references stay up to date takes a
little bit of planning and some practice, however it will also hugely benefit
you in the long run! Thinking back to my silly undergraduate self, leafing
through a printed copy of my thesis, typing out each heading, fretting that
the numbers werent aligned properly and nearly having a nervous
breakdown when my supervisor suggested moving things because I would
have to redo it all, I shudder at the wasted hours that could have been spent
doing something productive (like learning to use Word properly!).
The bottom line is that writing a thesis is hard enough as it is, dont give
yourself extra work that the computer could be doing for you instead!!
**Note: All screenshots taken from Word for Windows, 2013.
Read more from Lauren Tebay Image credit: Nenyaki

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How to create a table of contents by
marking text in Word

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This article was previously published under Q285059

IN THIS TASK

SUMMARY

Create Table Of Contents

Mark the Text to Include in the Table of Contents

Use Lead-in Emphasis with Heading Styles

Use Style Separators with Heading Styles

Removing a Heading from the Table of Contents

REFERENCES

SUMMARY
One of the most common features of professional documents is the table of
contents (TOC). Microsoft Word makes the creation of a TOC easier by allowing
you the option of creating a TOC without using styles and by allowing you to
mark a single word or group of words in a particular body of text and add that
information to the TOC.
A TOC can be generated by using the Lead-in Emphasis feature to apply heading
styles to any lead-in text (the first word or words in a paragraph or sentence). By
using the Lead-in Emphasis feature, you can create paragraphs where the first
portion of the paragraph is formatted with a heading style and appears in the
TOC, but the rest of the paragraph is normal text and does not appear in the
TOC. This article describes how to use this new feature to create a TOC.
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Create Table of Contents

In Word, you can create a TOC based on a portion of the text in a paragraph
without including the whole paragraph. You can mark text by using the Lead-in

Emphasis feature with heading styles to include the text in a TOC.

To insert a table of contents, follow these steps:
1.

Start Word, and then open your document.

2.

Click an empty paragraph where you want to insert the TOC.

3.

On the Insert menu, point to Reference, and then click Index and
Tables.
Note In Microsoft Office Word 2007 or in Word 2010, click Table of Contents in
the Table of Contents group on the References tab. Then, click Insert Table
of Contents.

4.

Click the Table of Contents tab, and then click Show Outlining
Toolbar.
Note In Word 2007 or in Word 2010, skip this step.

5.

In the Index and Tables dialog box, select the options that you want to
apply to your TOC, and then click OK.
Note In Word 2007 or in Word 2010, select the options that you want to apply to
the TOC in the Table of Contents dialog box, and then click OK.
Note If the text that is contained in your document is not marked to be included
in a TOC, you receive the following error message in your document instead of
the TOC:
Error! No table of contents entries found.
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Mark the Text to Include in the Table of Contents

The next step is to mark the text that you want to include in your TOC by using
Lead-in Emphasis with heading styles. Use one or more of the following methods
to mark text that you want to include in the TOC.
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Use Lead-in Emphasis with Heading Styles

1.

Select any lead-in text in your document that you want to include in your
TOC. For example, you may have a paragraph that includes lead-in text to
introduce the remainder of the paragraph's text. In the following paragraph, if

you want to include the introductory words "Widow and Orphan" in your TOC,
just select these words, and then continue with the steps.
Widow and Orphan: A widow is the last line of a paragraph printed by itself at
the top of a page. An orphan is the first line of a paragraph printed by itself at
the bottom of a page.
2.

Click the drop-down arrow in the Style box on the Formatting toolbar,
and then select the heading that you want.
Note In Word 2007 or in Word 2010, click the heading style that you want in
the Styles group on the Home tab.

3.

Click Update TOC on the Outlining toolbar to update the TOC.

Note In Word 2007 or in Word 2010, click Update Table in the Table of
Contents group on the References tab.

4.

In the Update Table of Contents dialog box, click Update the Entire
table, and then click OK.
Note In Word 2007 or in Word 2010, click Update the Entire table in
the Update Table of Contents dialog box.
If you click Show/Hide on the standard toolbar, note that there are no special
characters in the paragraph to indicate lead-in emphasis applied to the text.
However, the text formatted as a heading level appears in the document's TOC.
Because no hidden paragraph markers or other items are used, the whole
process is seamless. Word uses a new underlying feature named "Linked
character styles" to do this.
The heading style applied to the lead-in portion of the document is displayed as
a heading style, but it is actually a linked character style. In Word 2002 and
later, when you apply a paragraph style to a subset of paragraph, the following
behavior occurs:

A hidden character style is created that takes the same character

properties as the paragraph style being applied.
The character style is applied to the selection.
NOTE: The hidden character style created with linked character styles appears
in the Style drop-down list if the document is opened and viewed in earlier
versions of Word. The functionality of the style separator is lost if the document
is saved in an earlier version of Word.
To view the hidden character style, follow these steps:

1.

On the Format menu, click Reveal Formatting.

The Reveal Formatting task pane appears.
Note To open the Reveal Formatting task pane in Word 2007 or in Word 2010,
follow these steps:

a.

Click the Styles dialog box launcher in the Styles group on

the Home tab.

b.

In the Styles window, click Style Inspector.

c.

Click Reveal Formatting.

2.

Select the text in your document and notice that exact formatting details
appear in the Reveal Formatting task pane.

3.

Select the text that has the character style applied and note that the text
appears as a character style in the Reveal Formatting task pane. The linked
style appears as Heading Char in the Reveal Formatting task pane. The
actual character style remains hidden in the Styles and Formatting task pane
or the Style drop-down list on the Formatting toolbar.
Any paragraph style can be used for the linked character style. A paragraph
style can be created that looks exactly like the body text paragraph style, and
then applied to a portion of a paragraph. In this manner, the text that is used to
build the TOC can exactly match the text in the paragraph, assuming the TOC
options are modified to include the style for the lead-in text.
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Use Style Separators with Heading Styles

The style separator is a new feature to Word 2003 and Word 2002. Style
separator tags allow you to do the following:

Apply heading styles to a single word or phrase in a paragraph so that

only that word or phrase appears in the TOC.

Include two styles in a single paragraph so that the lead-in paragraph

appears in the TOC.

Apply outline levels to lead-in text so that only the lead-in text appears in
the TOC.

Apply outline levels to a single word or phrase in a paragraph so that only

that word or phrase appears in the TOC.

The style separator is a hidden paragraph mark that serves as a delineator

between separate styles applied in a document. To make the style separator
mark visible, follow these steps:
1.
2.

1.

On the Tools menu, click Options.

On the View tab, click All under Formatting Marks.
Before you can use the Style Separator feature, you must add the Style
Separator button to your toolbar:
Click Customize on the Tools menu.

2.

Click the Commands tab, and then click All Commands in

the Categories list.

3.

Locate InsertStyleSeparator in the Commands list, and then drag it to

the Formatting toolbar. Click Close.
Note To add the Style Separator button to the toolbar in Office Word 2007 or
in Word 2010, follow these steps:

1.

Click the Microsoft Office button, and then click Word Options.

2.

Click Customize.

3.

In the Choose commands from list, click All Commands.

4.

In the list of commands, click Sytle Separator, click Add, and then
click OK.
Insert the style separator before you apply the heading style to your text. To do
this, use one of the following methods.
Method A: Use Style Separators to add a single word or phrase in a paragraph to
the TOC:

1.

As you type, and you reach a word or phrase in a paragraph that you want
to include in the TOC, click the Style Separator button. When you click
the Style Separator button, the insertion point moves to the right of the
separator so that you can continue typing.

2.

Type the word or phrase that you want to include in the TOC, and then
click the Style Separator button again.

3.

Select the word or phrase that you want to include in the TOC, click the
drop-down arrow in the Style box on the Formatting toolbar, and then select
the heading that you want.

The word or phrase between the two style separators appears in the TOC.
Method B: Insert the Style Separator between two existing paragraphs:
You can use the style separator between two existing paragraphs so that the
first paragraph becomes the lead-in text and appears in the TOC, and the
second paragraph is the remainder of the text and does not appear in the TOC.
To do this, follow these steps:
1.

Create two paragraphs of text, placing text that you want to appear in the
TOC in the first paragraph, the remainder of the text in the second paragraph.

2.

Position the insertion point in the first paragraph, and then click the Style
Separator button.
The two paragraphs appear to become a single paragraph by converting the
paragraph mark at the end of the first paragraph to a style separator. You now
have a single compound paragraph, which shows up as two separate
paragraphs in Outline view, but which prints as a single paragraph.

3.

Select the text to the left of the separator, click the drop-down arrow in
the Style box on the Formatting toolbar, and then select the heading that you
want.
The TOC displays only the lead-in portion (the first paragraph) formatted with
the heading style.
NOTE: The style separator is a special form of a hidden paragraph mark.
Therefore, documents with style separators that are created in Word 2002 and in
later versions of Word appear the same in Word 2000 and in Microsoft Word 97
unless you click All under Formatting Marks. If you
click All under Formatting Marks in earlier versions of Word, the style
separator hidden paragraph mark appears as a normal paragraph mark, and the
document will be repaginated.
When you use an earlier version of Word to view documents that have style
separators that were created in Word 2002 and in later versions of Word, do not
click All under Formatting Marks.
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Removing a Heading from the Table of Contents

If you want to remove a heading from the TOC, you can apply a new paragraph
style to the marked text:

1.

Select the marked text, click the drop-down arrow in the Style box on
the Formatting toolbar, and then select the heading that you want.
(Click Normal to remove the heading style.)

2.

Click Update TOC on the Outlining toolbar to update the TOC.

Note In Word 2007 or in Word 2010, click Update Table in the Table of
Contents group on the References tab.

3.

In the Update Table of Contents dialog box, click Update the Entire
table, and then click OK.
Note In Word 2007 or in Word 2010, click Update the Entire table in
the Update Table of Contents dialog box.
NOTE: By applying the paragraph style that you want to the whole paragraph,
you do not remove the style. You must select the exact text as it appears in the
TOC, and then apply the new style.
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REFERENCES
For more information about how to create a table of contents without changing
the formatting of your text, click the following article number to view the article
in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
285050 How to use outline levels to create a table of contents in Word 2003 and
in Word 2002
For more information about how to create table of content entries with no page
number, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:
319821 How to create table of contents entries without a page number in
Microsoft Office Word
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