How a Google Docs Table Of Contents Works

Great for students as well as novelists

Whether you’re writing your first novel, or an essay paper for college, a Google Docs table of contents will help you keep things organized.

When you insert a table of contents in Google Docs, it updates automatically depending on how you format and structure your document. As you change the document, the table of contents will update every time you refresh an update.

In this article, you’ll learn how to add a table of contents to your document and how to make sure it stays updated.

Creating a Google Docs Table of Contents

As you’re writing your document, you’re creating your table of contents. Each header you add becomes another section in the table. Every subheader becomes a subsection as well.

All you have to do to get started is create the first header, highlight it, and then select theNormal textdropdown to choose your top level header style.

There are two approaches you can take to build your table of contents. You could write your entire document first, creating each header and sub-header as you go. Or, you could frame up your document with only the headers and sub-headers, essentially creating an entire outline before you begin writing.

Either way, once you’re finished, inserting the table of contents into your document is simple. Just place the cursor where you’d like the Google Docs table of contents to go. Next, selectInsertfrom the menu, and selectTable of contents.

In the submenu that comes up, you’ll see two choices.

How do you choose? If you’re planning on delivering your document in printed format, then you should opt for the page numbers option. If you’re sending it or sharing it electronically, then the blue links option is the way to go.

Once you choose an option, the Google Docs table of contents will appear in the document itself.

Google Docs Table of Contents Updates

As you can see, the table of contents formats itself according to how you’ve structured your document.

Top level headers (whether you start with H1 or H2) are flush with the left margin. Next level headers will be indented, and so on.

One thing you may notice as you start writing your document is that if you update any existing headers or add any new ones, the table of contents won’t update automatically.

To update your table of contents, you need to scroll back up to the section where you inserted it and click in the table of contents area. You’ll see a circular arrow (refresh button) appear on the upper left corner of the TOC.

When you select this refresh icon, you’ll see the table of contents update to incorporate all of the changes you’ve made to the document.

An alternative to using the refresh icon is right-clicking on the table of contents and selectingUpdate table of contentsfrom the pop-up menu.

Either method makes your TOC match the current structure of your working document.

Alternatively, you can view the document outline (which looks just like your Google Docs table of contents) in the left sidebar. To do this, just select theShow document outlineicon at the upper left corner of the document.

This will display the document outline on the left even as you’re scrolling through your document. You can select any section (header) in this outline to jump to that section of the document.

Formatting Google Docs Table of Contents

While the Google Docs TOC is inserted using the standard text format of your document, you can update it if you want to.

Just highlight the entire table of contents, then selectFormatfrom the menu, selectText, and selectSize.

From the submenu, you can choose to either selectIncrease font sizeorDecrease font size.

This will update the entire TOC to the new formatting setting you’ve selected.

The Search & Navigate Add-On

Another way to navigate your document using headers (but also bookmarks, phrases, and more) is through theSearch & Navigate Google Docs addon.

Once you’ve installed the addon, selectAdd-onsfrom the menu, selectSearch & Navigate, and selectStart.

This launches a panel on the right that you can use to navigate through your document using the same headers that are in your table of contents.

The reason this is a bit more useful than the regular TOC navigation panel is that there are other search features available.

InSettings, you can enable the add-on to auto-start any time the document is opened. You can also enable theCase sensitive searchfeature.

Using a Table Of Contents

Not all documents you write will need a table of contents. But if you frequently write academic papers or similar documents and use a table of contents, Google Docs can fill the need. It’s also easy and quick to use in any document you create.

Ryan has been writing how-to and other technology-based articles online since 2007. He has a BSc degree in Electrical Engineering and he’s worked 13 years in automation engineering, 5 years in IT, and now is an Apps Engineer.Read Ryan’s Full Bio

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How a Google Docs Table Of Contents Works#

Creating a Google Docs Table of Contents#

Google Docs Table of Contents Updates#

Formatting Google Docs Table of Contents#

The Search & Navigate Add-On#

Using a Table Of Contents#

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