Table of contents planning

Planning your TOC before creating it makes it easier to generate and update. A clear plan keeps your TOC consistent and reduces rework as your document changes.

A TOC lists content based on paragraph styles, so decide early what to include and how it should appear. You can create one main TOC or multiple lists, such as chapters, figures, or advertisers. Each TOC uses its own style and pulls entries from specific paragraph styles.

Use consistent paragraph styles across your document or book files, as InDesign builds the TOC from these styles. For book projects, keep document order correct in the Book panel and synchronize styles to avoid errors. Plan formatting, such as indentation, spacing, and tab leaders, before generating the TOC to save time later.

Update the TOC whenever your content or layout changes. Always edit the source content instead of the TOC itself, as updates overwrite manual changes. You can also create multiple TOC styles to manage different lists in the same document.

Choose your TOC setup based on the final output. Use page numbers for print, hyperlinks for interactive PDFs, and a clear structure for EPUB. Planning your output format ensures your TOC works correctly across different publishing needs.