How to make content automatically in Word 2010: step by step instructions and tips

One of the mandatory elements of a multi-page document is the content. In addition to the fact that it helps to navigate the text well for any person, the table of contents gives it solidity. This article will tell you how to automatically make content in Word 2010.

Preparing to insert a table of contents: setting styles

The default styles used to create a table of contents are in no way consistent with generally accepted document formatting standards. Therefore, they must be properly configured. This is done as follows:

In the "Home" section of the tool ribbon in the "Styles" block, click on the small button in the lower right corner of the block or use the hotkey Ctrl + "Image" + Shift+ S.
In the window that appears on the right, move the mouse pointer over the line "Heading 1".
Click on the button that appears on the right side. In the list that opens, select"Edit".
In the new dialog box, set the style to match the rest of the text and click OK.

Repeat previous 2 steps for styles "Heading 2", "Heading 1", "Heading 1, 2".

This completes preparations for making content automatically in Word 2010, as intended.

Insert table of contents

To add content to a document using the built-in tool for this, you need to:

Select the title of a section, chapter or paragraph and apply one of the previously configured styles "Heading No. 1, 2 or 3" to it

Note. The higher the number, the lower the importance of the section. This allows you to automatically make a table of contents in Word 2010 with subheadings, as is sometimes required. In the finished content, the headings of the 2nd and 3rd levels are shifted to the right of the main headings.

Repeat the previous step until all section and subsection names are checked.
Switch to the "Links" tab.
In the "Contents" block, click on the button with the same name.
In the list that opens, select "Automatic table of contents".

After that, the content block will be added to the place where the cursor was placed. If you need to make a table of contents automatically in "Word 2010" from the 2ndpage, as is often required, a blank page or page break is inserted after the title page. This can be done using the buttons of the same name located in the "Pages" section of the "Insert" tab or by pressing the hot key Ctrl + Enter.

Sometimes the "Links" tab is missing from the toolbar. Sometimes this happens due to editor settings failures. To return the tab back, you need:

Press the "File" button and select "Settings"

In the new window, go to the "Customize Ribbon" section.
In the right area, check the box next to the "Links" line.
Click on OK to save the settings.

After this manipulation, it is not difficult to make the table of contents automatically in "Word 2010" if there is no "Link", as usual.

Customizing the appearance of the table of contents

After pre-setting the styles made earlier, the inserted table of contents does not stand out against the background of the main text. But the content design settings are not limited to this. The dialog box with additional options is invoked as follows:

Go to the "Links" tab.
In the "Contents" block, click on the button with the same name.
In the list that appears, select the "Insert table of contents" sub-item.

In a new window, you can configure:

Display pagination.
Distance between section numbers and titles.
The presence of dots or dotted lines between them.

After changing the parameters, click OK and agree to re-insert the table of contents.

This way, how to automatically make the content in "Word 2010" beautiful and neat, is completed.

Editing and deleting

Editing an inserted table of contents is quite simple. To add new items, it is enough to apply one of the heading styles to the titles of new sections. If any sections were changed or deleted when editing the text, then when updating the structure of the content, the changes will be duplicated in it.

Advice. After making all the edits or before printing, you should always update the table of contents. You can do this by clicking the "Refresh Table" button in the "Links" tab, or by clicking on the table of contents and pressing F9. Otherwise, instead of numbering on paper, the error "Bookmark not defined" will be displayed.

To completely remove the table of contents from the document, you need to click the "Table of Contents" button in the "Links" tab, and then click on the "Remove Table of Contents" line in the drop-down list.