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Formatting your thesis in Word

This guide is primarily intended for those who use the Library's thesis templates in Word, but may also be useful for those who have chosen not to use the templates.

Create new table of contents

See instructions on Microsoft's website: Insert a table of contents

Updating the table of contents

  • We advise against manually changing the inserted table of contents. To update the existing version, right-click on the field and select ‘update field’, then select ‘update entire table’.
  • If you have added headings, it is best to update the whole table; if not, you can just update the page numbers.
  • Manually created table of contents (which are not created automatically from the headings) cannot be updated in Word. You will have to enter the changes manually in the table of contents.

Updating the table of contents - Option 1

  1. Place the cursor in the table of contents.
  2. Right-click in a field.
  3. Select Update field.

  4. Select Update entire table.

Update the table of contents - Option 2

  1. Go to References > Update table.
  2. Select one of the following options:

a) Update page numbers only: This updates only pages with headings and ignores any changes to the heading text.

b) Update entire table: This reflects any updates to the header text and any page changes.

  1. Select OK.