Word – Table of Contents Outside of Margin

microsoft wordmicrosoft-word-2010table of contents

I currently have an automatic table of contents generated for a report I have written. All of the headings in the report are formatted correctly and all indent as expected on the TOC.

However, the Header 1 styled entries in the TOC extend past the right margin. The effect I have is:

1.0  Introduction (Heading 1).............2
   1.1  Next (Header 2)..............4
        1.1.1   Next (Header 2)......5
        1.1.2   Final (Header 2).....6
2.0  Introduction (Heading 1).............7
   2.1  Next (Header 2)..............8
        2.1.1   Next (Header 2)......8
        2.1.2   Final (Header 2).....9

I have checked everything, yet I can't seem to find the issue. The heading 1 style actually goes over the defined word margin where as all the other headings fit fine as shown above.

Best Answer

You may need to clear the tab stops on the TOC field levels. I had this problem when I changed the page widths and changed the number of levels in the table of contents.

  1. Right Click your Table of Contents and select Edit Field then scroll down to TOC and click the Table of Contents button.

  2. In the Table of Contents window, click the Modify button in the bottom right corner.

  3. In the new Style window click TOC 1 and then select Modify

  4. In the Modify Style window click the Format button in the bottom left the select Tabs...

  5. Click either Clear all or delete the tabs you do not want. Now click OK to accept, then OK again in the Modify Style window.

  6. Repeat 3-5 for each of the levels of TOC entries you are using, by the looks of it you want TOC 1, TOC 2 and TOC 3

  7. Click OK until you are back at your document and have accepted the request to update the Table of Contents.

All being well you should now have all your entries properly right aligned.

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