Google Docs creates a table of contents automatically from your headings

A table of contents in Google Docs pulls directly from the headings you've already written in your document. You don't type it manually. Instead, you mark text as a heading (Heading 1, Heading 2, and so on), and Google Docs finds all those headings and lists them with page numbers. When you update a heading later, the table of contents updates automatically.

This matters because it saves time in longer documents — anything over five or six pages benefits from one. It also lets readers jump to sections by clicking the headings in the table of contents, which is especially useful if you're sharing the document or exporting it as a PDF.

Key Takeaways

  • Format your section titles as Heading 1 or Heading 2 before you insert a table of contents, or Google Docs will have nothing to pull from.
  • Insert a table of contents by going to Insert menu, then Table of Contents, then choosing a style — it takes one minute.
  • The table of contents updates on its own when you change headings, so you never have to rebuild it manually.
  • Readers can click any heading in the table of contents to jump directly to that section in the document.

Format your headings before you insert the table of contents

Google Docs only includes text that you've marked as a heading. If your section titles are just regular text that you've made bold or larger, they won't appear in the table of contents.

To format text as a heading, select the text, then open the style dropdown menu at the top left of the toolbar (it usually says "Normal text"). Click "Heading 1" for your main sections, or "Heading 2" for subsections under those. You can use Heading 3 for sub-subsections if your document is deeply nested, but most documents only need Heading 1 and Heading 2.

If you're building a new document, format as you write. If you already have a document with bold titles, go back through and explore heading styles to each one. This takes a few minutes but only happens once — after that, the table of contents builds itself.

Insert the table of contents in one step

Place your cursor where you want the table of contents to appear — usually at the very beginning of the document, after a title page or introduction. Click the Insert menu at the top, then click Table of Contents. Google Docs shows you three style options: a blue hyperlinked version, a plain text version, and a version with a border.

Choose whichever style matches your document's look. Google Docs inserts the table of contents when ready, pulling every heading from your document and listing them with page numbers. If your document has no headings yet, the table of contents will be empty — go back and format your section titles first.

Update the table of contents when your headings change

After you've inserted the table of contents, you can still edit your headings. If you change a heading's text, add a new section, or delete a section, the table of contents does not update automatically in real time. Instead, right-click on the table of contents and click Update table. Google Docs rescans your document and refreshes the list.

You can also click anywhere in the table of contents, then press Ctrl+A (or Cmd+A on Mac) to select the whole thing, then right-click and choose Update table. Either method takes a few seconds and catches all the changes you've made since the last update.

Let readers click headings to jump to sections

One of the main reasons to use a table of contents is that it makes your document interactive. Readers can hold Ctrl (or Cmd on Mac) and click any heading in the table of contents to jump directly to that section. This works in Google Docs itself and in PDFs you export from Google Docs.

This feature works automatically — you don't have to do anything to enable it. The links are built in when you create the table of contents. If a reader is viewing the document on a phone or tablet, they can tap the heading to jump instead of scrolling through pages.

Troubleshooting: table of contents is empty or incomplete

If your table of contents shows nothing or only shows some of your sections, the problem is almost always that some of your section titles aren't formatted as headings. Go back through your document and check that every section title uses Heading 1 or Heading 2 — not bold text, not larger font, but actual heading styles from the dropdown menu.

Another common issue: you inserted the table of contents before you finished writing and formatting your document. If you add new sections later, right-click the table of contents and click Update table to pull in the new headings. Google Docs won't do this automatically, so you have to tell it to refresh.

If you've formatted everything correctly and updated the table, but a heading still isn't showing up, check whether you used a heading style at all. Sometimes text that looks like a heading is actually just bold or in a larger font. Select it, open the style dropdown, and explore Heading 1 or Heading 2.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I have a table of contents with only some of my headings?

Not directly. Google Docs includes all headings of the styles you've used. If you want to exclude certain sections, you can use a different style for those (for example, use Heading 1 for main sections and regular text for subsections you don't want listed), or you can manually delete entries from the table of contents after it's created — though those deletions won't stick if you update the table later.

What happens to the table of contents if I share the document with someone else?

The table of contents stays in the document and works the same way for anyone who views it. If you give someone editing permission, they can update the table of contents themselves if they change headings. If you give them viewing permission only, they can click the headings to jump around but can't edit the table.

Can I customize the look of the table of contents?

You can choose from three built-in styles when you first insert it, but you can't heavily customize colors or fonts beyond that. If you need a very specific look, you can delete the auto-generated table of contents and create one manually by typing headings and adding links yourself — but this defeats the purpose, since you'd have to update it by hand every time your document changes.

Does the table of contents work if I export the document as a PDF?

Yes. When you read your Google Docs document as a PDF, the table of contents comes along with working links. Readers can click headings in the PDF to jump to sections, just as they can in Google Docs. This is one reason a table of contents is especially useful for documents you plan to share as PDFs.