How to Make a Table of Contents in Google Docs With Page Numbers

When it comes to making your document reader-friendly, adding a table of contents is beneficial. The list of items and page numbers at the beginning will let people know exactly what you address in your business report or school essay, and they can navigate quickly and easily to the section that interests them.
If you are wondering how to make a table of contents in Google Docs with page numbers, there are certain steps you’ll need to follow.
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How to Make a Table of Contents in Google Docs with Page Numbers
When it comes to asking how to make a table of contents in Google Docs with page numbers, you’ll need to format your document properly. You’ll need to use headings throughout the text. Here are the steps to achieve this task before you create your table of contents:
Use Headings
Step 1: Open Google Docs
The first thing you’ll need to do when wondering how to make a table of contents in Google Docs with page numbers is open your Google Docs.
If you aren’t already signed in to your Google account, you will be asked to input your user name and password.
After gaining access to your account, you’ll then need to open the document that you want to add a table of contents to.
Step 2: Find Your Section Titles
After you have opened the Google Doc you want to create a table of contents for, you’ll then need to go to the first section title.
Using your cursor, highlight the title.

Step 3: Choose a Style
Once you’ve highlighted the title, you’ll then need to choose a heading style.
Your choices include the following:
- Heading 1
- Heading 2
- Heading 3
- Heading 4
Knowing which one to use will depend on the structure of your document. Heading 1 is usually assigned to the major sections within your document. If you have any subcategories beneath your main title, this is when you’ll use the other heading options in your document.
Depending on how much information you have in your report, you may need to use all headings, or you may only use a few.

Assign the Style to More Headings
Once you have decided which style you want to add to each header, you’ll then need to assign it to the headers.
To do this, you’ll go to the font drop-down menu at the top of the screen. This is labeled with the words “Normal text” and there is a down arrow on the right-hand side.
Click on the arrow to open the drop-down menu.
From there, you can choose which style to assign to the heading text.
Continue these steps until all section titles in your document that you want to appear in the table of contents have been assigned a heading style.

Inserting the Table of Contents
When asking how to make a table of contents in Google Docs with page numbers, after you have assigned heading styles to each of your section titles, you’ll then need to go to the beginning of your document and decide where you want the table of contents to appear.
More often than not, your table of contents will appear right after your title page. However, if you have an abstract in addition to your title page, your table of contents will appear after that. These are the steps you’ll need to follow to create a table of contents in your Google Doc:
Step 1: Choose the Page
To ensure your table of contents is on the page you want it to appear on, make sure to place your cursor at the top of the page and you have clicked on that page.

Step 2: Insert Table of Contents
At the top of your document in the toolbar, look for and click on Insert.
This will open a drop-down menu.
Choose “Table of Contents”
You’ll be able to find the “Table of contents” option at the bottom of the list.
Click on this.
Choose the Type
When you click on “Table of contents,” it will bring up two options for you to choose from. One includes page numbers and the other includes blue links.
If you are wondering how to create a table of contents with page numbers, you’ll want to click on the option that allows you to do this.

Once you have clicked on that option, your table of contents will automatically appear in your document.

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Adding or Deleting Sections in Your Document and Table of Contents
While working on your document, you may realize that you need to add or remove certain sections from the text. If you do this, then you’ll want to be able to reflect those changes in your table of contents.
Here are the steps you’ll need to change your table of contents:
Step 1: Add a Style to the Heading
When adding a new section to your document, to ensure that it shows up in your table of contents, you’ll need to make sure you assign it the right style of heading.
Again, this is found under the font drop-down menu at the top of the page.
Make sure the text is highlighted before assigning it a style.
Step 2: Update Your Table of Contents
Once you have made the necessary additions or deletions to your document, you’ll then need to go back to your table of contents to update it. There are a couple of different ways to achieve your updated table of contents goals.
Probably the easiest way to update your table of contents is to use the Refresh button.
Click on the text that makes up your table of contents. You’ll know when you’ve selected your table of contents because a box will appear around it.
On the left-hand side of the box, you’ll see a square with a circle and arrow in it. Click on this to update your table of contents.

Another option you can use when updating your table of contents is to use the drop-down menu.
Again, you’ll want to make sure you have selected the text and the box appears. Then, you’ll right-click to bring up a list of options.
On the list, you’ll look for “Update table of contents” and click on it. That should refresh the information and include new sections that were added and get rid of sections that were deleted.
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Some Things to Know When Creating a Table of Contents in Google Docs
Adding a table of contents to your Google doc is a great way to organize the information and make it easier to find without having to scroll through pages of text. Here are some things you should know about your table of contents:
The Formatting Is Pretty Simple
Once you have inserted your table of contents into your document, you won’t have the ability to make many changes. The only edits you’ll be able to make are to the links for each section heading.
You have some options when it comes to making link edits.
The first is to click on the heading in the table of contents. This will bring up a smaller window, and on the right-hand side, you should see a pencil. Click on that to bring up another window where you can change the destination link for the header.
The other option is to click on the header you want to change and then right-click your mouse. This will bring up a drop-down menu, and from there you can choose the “Link” option to make changes to the destination.
Your Table of Contents Will be Tiered
If you use more than one heading within your document, this will be reflected in your table of contents.
Any text marked with a Heading 1 with be at the top of the list and shown in bold. Text marked with the subsequent headings will fall beneath the first heading. They won’t be bolded, but they will be indented depending on which heading they were marked with.
This organization lets your reader know what your main topics are and how (or if) they are broken into various sections. They can navigate to whatever section they want to read by clicking on the link that can be found in the table of contents.
Always Update Your Table of Contents After Making Changes
One of the best ways to ensure that your table of contents is always up to date is to refresh it after making edits to your document. You never know if additions or deletions have changed the page numbering, so hitting the refresh button when you’re done making changes is a good habit to get into.
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Navigating to Each Section in Your Document
One of the reasons to add a table of contents to your Google Doc is to make it easier to navigate to the various sections within the text. If you or your reader wants to read about a specific topic, here is how they will get there when you have created a table of contents with page numbers:
Step 1: Click on the Table of Contents
To go to a specific section within the document, the first thing you’ll need to do is click on the table of contents.
Step 2: Click on the Section Link
Once you notice the box appear around the text in your table of contents, you can then navigate to a specific section by either clicking on the page number or the section title.
This will bring up a smaller window with the title of the section appearing in blue. Click on that to be taken to the exact location of that information in the document.
If you have created a table of contents with links, to get to a certain section, all you will do is click on the section title. This will take you to the right page.
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Creating Documents that Look Good and Are Organized
Using Google Docs is incredibly beneficial when it comes to creating documents for work, school, or whatever. If your document is incredibly long and/or complex, adding a table of contents not only makes it easier for your reader to navigate but also makes it look good.
When wondering how to make a table of contents in Google Docs with page numbers, the first thing you’ll need to do is make sure each of your section titles have been assigned a heading style. Then, you’ll follow these steps to create your table of contents:
- Step 1: Choose the Page
- Step 2: Click Insert
- Step 3: Choose Table of Contents
- Step 4: Choose the Type
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