Writing reports - Table of contents

1. How a contents page might look

Contents

1. How a contents page might look 1

2. Adding a table of contents 2

a. Major headings 2

b. Secondary headings 2

c. Using the format painter 3

3. Updating Table of Contents 3

4. Inserting a page break 4

5. Formatting numbering etc. 4

• This table is linked to the text headings of this document. Remember you can Ctrl + click on the page number and it will take you directly to the relevant section of the document.

• Note that the Contents page should be a separate page at the beginning of the document.

2. Adding a table of contents

• Write the report first, then do the Table of Contents.

1. Major headings

• Select headings in the text, then on the ‘Home’ tab, select ‘Heading1’

• In ‘References’ tab, select ‘Table of contents’ & choose the one you want – insert

2. Secondary headings

• For secondary headings, select the appropriate part of text / heading & select ‘Headings 2’ from the ‘Home’ tab.

(If the heading is part of a sentence, highlight the part you want to be the heading and then use ‘Heading 2’)

3. Using the format painter

• Use the format painter to make the headings all the same

Highlight the text that contains the style / font etc that you want to copy, drag the mouse arrow to the format painter paintbrush and left click, then drag the mouse over the text you want to change. It will automatically change the format of the text you have painted.

3. Updating Table of Contents

• To update the Table of Contents, right click on the table – the words “Update Table” should appear. Select either update page numbers or whole table. (Use F9 button to update table of contents if Word doesn’t do it automatically).

4. Inserting a page break

• To insert a page break, go to the ‘insert’ tab - insert page break. You will need to do this at the start of your document so that you can put the contents page at the beginning.

5. Formatting numbering etc.

• The formatting tools appear under the home tab. You can change numbering, bullet points, the layout of headings etc.