Add interactivity to a table of contents

Last updated on Jun 2, 2026

Learn how to add hyperlinks and bookmarks to create an interactive table of contents (TOC) for Adobe InDesign digital documents.

Interactive TOC entries improve navigation in digital documents by letting readers jump directly to content. Enable hyperlinks when generating the TOC in InDesign to connect each entry to its source. You can also create PDF bookmarks for use in Adobe Acrobat. These features apply only to digital output, not print.

Add hyperlinks in the TOC

Open the document that contains the TOC. The Create PDF Bookmarks option is selected by default to add TOC entries to the Bookmarks panel when exporting to PDF.

Select or place the insertion point in the TOC text frame.

Select Layout > Table of Contents.

Select More Options if additional settings aren't visible.

Select OK to regenerate the TOC with hyperlinks enabled.

Export the document with an interactive TOC

Select File > Export.

Choose Adobe PDF (Interactive) from the Format drop-down menu (macOS) or Save as type drop-down menu (Windows).

Name your file, select a save location, then select Save.

Select Export. The exported TOC contains interactive links.

Open the PDF in Acrobat or another PDF reader and select an entry to jump to that section.