Table of Confusion

By Jessica Barron, Writing Tutor

I always thought I was pretty tech savvy: not quite a computer expert, but fairly adept at solving any word processing issues in Microsoft Word. That was, of course, until I met the table of contents (TOC).

Anyone constructing a capstone project most likely has encountered trouble with a TOC. Whether an “Error! Bookmark not defined” message or an entire paragraph popping into your Level 2 heading, TOC glitches can cause headaches, undermine confidence, and make stepping on your keyboard seem like a good idea. Unfortunately, the Writing Center staff is unable to help students troubleshoot any TOC issues, but do not fret! There are multiple resources available to help you create, update, and troubleshoot a TOC.

One way to avoid any of the common TOC errors is to create the table manually. This option does mean that you will have to hit the tab and period keys many times and that reformatting may be painstaking, but it can provide piece of mind when you add additional text to your document. If interested in this route, see our document templates to view examples of APA 6th format for TOCs.

If manually creating a TOC is not attractive to you, Microsoft Word does have functions that allow for automatic TOC creation. On the Microsoft Word support website are step-by-step instructions on how to create and update a TOC in Word 2003, 2007, and 2010. When using these steps, be sure to review the “APA Style” headings that your version of MS Word populates in your document. Some versions might not be updated with the APA 6th edition format, so reviewing our sample templates will help you know if your formatting is aligned with the current requirements.

If you are more of an audiovisual learner and you want help beyond the step-by-step Microsoft instructions, there are a multitude of online videos designed around the troublesome TOC. Searching the Internet for phrases like how to and table of contents yields many viral videos on the subject. One of my personal favorites is this video, which is informative but still brief.

So, after using these resources, you will have a TOC in your document. Nevertheless, even if you’ve followed the directions and feel comfortable with the format of your TOC, errors still might occur when you add text or try to update your page numbers. The MS Word support website has listed the most common occurrences and solutions to these errors in an FAQ format in addition to the other links on TOCs. If this page does not have your specific error, you can contact the technical department at Microsoft to help work through the issue with you.

While we at the Writing Center are not technical gurus who can provide TOC guidance, we try to point students to word processing resources (see the right-hand side of our Writing Resources page). We have worked with the Walden Student Support team to create some handouts for our website specifically on the TOC, but if you’ve found any of the previous links helpful or you uncovered a useful online video, let us know! We would love to share your unproblematic experience with other Walden students.

Happy formatting!