Adding table of tables in word

Word can generate a list of all the tables in a document. Like a Table of Contents, this list of tables or Table of tables can include page references or links to each table.

A Table of tables can be useful for creating a proper appendix or reference within more formal documentation. It can be handy to have a list of all the tables used in a document either for publication or just for ‘in-house’ reference use during writing.

Before you can add a Table of tables to your document, you must add captions to all the tables in your document, as described in Adding Captions in Word.   Yes, there is an alternative way making the list from styles but captions works better because each table gets a individual label.

Two Tables in Word

Before we begin, lets try to sort out a linguistic mess.  Word has two features both called ‘tables’.

Table – a list of captions etc within a document e.g.  Table of Contents, Table of Figures etc.

table – a grid of boxes or cells placed in a Word document from Insert | Table.

Normally the two are separate and it’s clear from the context which one we’re talking about.

For this article we’ll try to make it clear which ‘table’ we’re talking about by using the term ‘list’ but mostly with a capital letter ‘Table’ for the list and lower case ‘table’ for the grid.  E.g.  a Table of tables.

Slightly less confused? Good, let’s get on with it.

Making a simple Table of tables

Once you have some tables captioned in the document you can make a reference Table of them.

Click where you want the Table to appear (most likely as an appendix or close to your Table of Contents).

Go to References | Captions | Insert Table of Figures (yes, ‘Figures’) to bring up the “Table of Figures” dialog.

First thing to do is change the Caption Label from Figures to table.  And lo! you have a Table of tables!

The “Print Preview” and “Web Preview” panes show how the Table will appear. By default, page numbers are displayed and aligned to the right, although you can change this by deselecting the appropriate checkboxes.

The “Tab leader” dropdown changes what appears between the text and the right-aligned page numbers.

“Use hyperlinks instead of page numbers” for the web preview gives you a clickable table with links to each table in the Word document.

Table Formats

The “Formats” drop-down list directly affects the appearance of the Table of tables. The available options are:

  • From template
  • Classic
  • Distinctive
  • Centered
  • Formal
  • Simple

Select a format to see how it will look in the preview panes.   Most people use ‘From template’ because that will match the font etc in the current document or template.

To design a custom Table of tables layout, select “From template” and click the “Modify” button to create your own style.

When you are happy with the layout, click “OK” to build your Table of tables. Word will search for the captions, sort them by number, and display the Table of tables in the document.

Word déjà vu

If all this seems familiar, that’s because it’s almost exactly the same as the ‘Table of Contents’  and Table of Figure options. In fact, a Table of tables uses the same underlying Word technology as Table of Contents (the {TOC } field).

All Word’s Table of Contents options
Four Word tricks to shrink a Table of Contents
Table of Contents basics in Word

When you add several tables and figures or any other objects in your report, it is a best practice to create a list of tables and figures or lists of other objects in the report’s preface. In academic writing, this is a must-have section of your report. Like the table of contents, you can also generate a list of tables and figures or any other objects in Microsoft Word.

Table of Contents

Step 01: Add captions to tables and figures

The lists of tables and figures or lists of any other objects are generated from the captions you added for those objects in your report. If you haven’t added captions yet, you can learn how to add captions in Microsoft Word fro the following post.

How to add Captions in Microsoft Word

Step 02: Insert list of tables and figures

After you add a few captions to tables or figures in your document, you generate a list of those objects.

To generate a list of tables and figures or any other objects;

  1. Place the cursor where you want to add the list.
  2. Go to the References tab
  3. Click Insert Table of Figures in the Caption group
  4. In the Table of the Figures dialog box select the relevant Caption Label (Table, Figure, & Equation, etc…)
  5. Do the necessary formatting using the available options in the Table of Figures dialog box,
  6. Click OK.

The following animation demonstrates the above steps for creating a list of tables and figures.

Updating the lists

You need to update these lists in order to include the tables and figures or other objects you added later in the report. To update these lists,

  1. Click anywhere in the middle of the list to be updated
  2. Go to the References tab
  3. In the Caption group, click Update Table
  4. In the Update Table of Figures dialog box select the Update Entire Table option
  5. Click OK.

Some requirements demand listing figures, tables, and other visual objects at the end of a document. They are named List of Figures and List of Tables. Microsoft Word offers the functionality named Table of Figures that helps generate and update a list of the captions for pictures, charts, graphs, diagrams, slides, photos, or other illustrations of the document, along with the numbers of the pages on which the captions appear.

Table of Figures pretty much like Table of Content:

  • Is helping readers and reviewers navigate to the visual objects in the document,
  • Is generated from the figure and table captions or other object captions. All captions you need to include in the appropriate Table of Figures should be added using the Caption functionality.

Depending on the selected type of objects (captions label), the list generated by Table of Figures may contain:

  • List of figures (see How to create automatic numbers and captions for figures: images, pictures):

    List of figures in Word 365

  • List of tables (see How to create automatic numbers and titles for tables):

    List of tables in Word 365

  • List of custom objects, labeled in the Caption functionality as a separate item. E.g., a List of photographs (see How to insert numbers, captions, and cutlines for photographs):

    List of photographs in Word 365

Note: See how to transform captions and titles for including or excluding different text parts to the Table of Figures.

Prepare items for a List of Tables or Figures

Before starting a Table of Figures functionality in Word, ensure that all visual objects have captions (or at least style you will use for creating a list). These allow Word to recognize and include them in the appropriate list.

You can create a list of objects and add a caption to the missed object later. Don’t forget to update caption numbering and already created lists!

Create a List of Figures or Tables in Word

To create a list of some objects in a Word document, position the cursor to insert the list. Then, on the Reference tab, in the Captions group, click the Insert Table of Figures button:

List of photographs in Word 365

In the Table of Figures dialog box, on the Table of Figures tab (is displayed by default, all other tabs are grayed):

Table of Figures dialog box in Word 365

  • In the General section (we recommend starting from this section because its options can change the selected parameters in other sections):
    • From the Format dropdown list, select a visual format:

      Formats in Table of Figures dialog box Word 365

      • From template is based on the styles established in the current template
      • Classic
      • Distinctive
      • Centered
      • Formal
      • Simple

      Note: Choose any proposed formats and see how the new list will look in the Print Preview section. E.g., the Formal format:

      Formal format for List of Tables Word 365

    • From the Caption label dropdown list, select the type of items you want to include in the Table of Figures:

      Caption label in Table of Figures dialog box Word 365

      • (none)
      • Figure (selected by default) – see how to create captions for figures,
      • Equation – see how to create captions for equations,
      • Table – see how to create captions for tables,
      • Any other label (in this example, My Caption, Photo) was created using the New Label… button of the Caption dialog box. E.g., see how to create captions for photographs.

      Note: There is no option for listing different labels in that list, such as figures and tables together. See how to create a list of all captions in the document below.

    • Ensure that the Include label and number check box is selected if you want the label (i.e., Figure or Table) and the number to be included in the list. E.g.:
      • With the selected Include label and number check box, the list displays the entire captions:

      Formal format for List of Tables Word 365

      • With unselected Include label and number check box, the list displays only text from captions:

      Exclude label and number for List of Tables Word 365

See all the changes and choices in the Print Preview and Web Preview sections:

  • In the Print Preview section (all changes in that section can be changed by the selected options in the General section):
    • Clear the Show page numbers check box if you prefer to hide page numbers from the list:

      Show page numbers in Table of Figures Word 365

      If you deselect this option, all other options in the Print Preview section will disappear.

    • Clear the Right align page numbers check box to display page numbers right after items text:

      Right align page numbers in Table of Figures Word 365

      If you deselect this option, you can’t choose the tab leader for page numbers.

    • From the Tab leader dropdown list, select the tab leader you need. You can select dots, dashes, or lines that appear before the page numbers:

      Tab leader in Table of Figures Word 365

  • In the Web Preview section (shows how your list will look if you convert your Word file to a web page):
    • Clear the Use hyperlinks instead of page numbers check box if you prefer to see the same view as in Print Preview:

    Web Preview in Table of Figures Word 365

Create a list for the style or Table entry fields

In the Table of Figures dialog box, on the Table of Figures tab:

  • Click the Options… button to use styles and Table entry fields for the Table of Figures instead of caption labels:

    Table of Figures Options dialog box Word 365

    In the Table of Figures Options dialog box:

    • Select the Style from the dropdown list (check box will be selected automatically) to add all text with the selected style in a Table of Figures:

      Style in Table of Figures Options Word 365

      Note: The Style dropdown list contains all styles already used in the Word document.

      So, Word creates a list of all text blocks in a document with that style. E.g., if you select the Caption style, you will see all captions in a List:

      Caption style in Table of Figures Word 365

      Note: You can create a custom style for some titles or blocks of text and include them in the list. See some examples below.

    • Select the Table entry fields check box to insert Table of Contents entries (see how to create and use the Table of Contents Entries):

      Table entry fields in Table of Figures Options Word 365

      For example, if you have the table titles in the separate line of the label and number, you can create the Table entry fields for such tables:

    Table entry fields 1 in Word 365

    ***

    Table entry fields 2 in Word 365

    So, the List of Table will display specified titles:

    Table entry fields in Table of Figures Word 365

    Note: The issue of this example can also be solved using the transformation of the captions and titles.

Customize the Table of Figures style

In the Table of Figures dialog box, on the Table of Figures tab:

  • Click the Modify… button to modify a predefined style for a Table for Figures.

    In the Style dialog box:

    • In the Styles list, is selected a style that Word will use for a created Table,
    • In the Preview field, check how the style looks,
    • Under Preview, the main options for the style are listed:

      Style Table of Figures in Word 365

    • Click the Modify… button to change the style.

    In the Modify Style dialog box, make changes you need, then click the OK button:

    Modify Style Table of Figures in Word 365

    For example, the Table of Figures with double spacing and indentation for the long captions:

    Formatted Table of Figures in Word 365

    See how to customize the Table of Figure style for more details.

Add a title to the custom Table of Figures

After inserting a new Table of Figures, manually type a title above the list. E.g.:

Title of Table of Figures in Word 365

Attention! We highly recommend checking the formatting requirements, accepted by your college, university, company, or established on the project, etc. For example:

Example of Table of Figures in Word 365

See also how to customize the Table of Figures style.

Empty Table of Figures or Table of Tables

After creating a Table of Figures, Word can create a message “No table of figures entries found”:

Error of Table of Figures in Word 365

The leading cause for this message is that Word could not find the text with the Caption style for the selected caption label (e.g., Figures, Tables, etc.).

To solve that problem, check the style for items captions such as figures and tables which you want to be displayed in the Table of Figures.

Don’t forget to update captions and any related items in a document!

Update a List of Tables or Figures

Microsoft Word inserts Table of Figures as a field:

So, you can change the TOC field using switches.

Word will not automatically update any Table of Figures after adding, deleting, or modifying included items and pages. To manually update them, follow the next steps:

   1.   Click on the list and do one of the following:

  • On the References tab, in the Captions group, click the Update Table button:

    Update Table button in Word 365

    Note: Only if your cursor is positioned on any of the generated Tables (Table of Figures, Table of Content, etc.), that button is not grayed.

  • Right-click the list and select Update Field from the shortcut menu:

    Update Field in popup menu Word 365

   2.   In the Update Table of Figures dialog box, select elements you need to update:

Update Table of Figures in Word 365

We recommend selecting the Update entire table option always.

   3.   Click the OK button to start updating.

Note: See how to turn on or turn off highlighting of fields in a Word document to display all fields in a document with a gray background.

Edit an existing Table of Figures or Table of Tables

If you need to modify an existing Table of Figures, you can:

  • Delete existing Table of Figures and create a new one,
  • Edit an existing field.

To edit the existing Table of Figures, follow the next steps:

   1.   Do one of the following:

  • Click anywhere on the Table, then on the References tab, in the Captions group, click the Insert Table of Figures button.
  • Select all the lines of the Table, then right-click on the selection and choose Edit Field… in the popup menu:

    Edit Field in popup menu Word 365

In the Field dialog box, click the Table of Contents… button:

Field dialog box in Word 365

Note: The button is visible only if you have selected all the existing Table of Figures lines.

   2.   In the Table of Figures dialog box, on the Table of Figures tab, select the options you need.

Be careful! Word opens the Table of Figures dialog box with default options. All the options selected for the existing Table disappear.

Delete a Table of Figures

To delete a List of Figures (List of Tables, or List of any objects), select all the lines of a Table of Figures and press Delete.

Books on table in loft with text overlay "How to Create and Update a List of Tables or Figures in Microsoft Word"As shown in this tutorial, you can quickly create a list of tables or figures in Microsoft Word if you used Word’s caption tool to number your tables and figures. (See “How to Insert Figure Captions in Microsoft Word” for step-by-step instructions on using the caption tool.)

We will also look at how to update the list as you add, move, or delete tables or figures.

Terminology Note: This tutorial uses the terms list of tables and list of figures, which are common terms in the publishing industry. However, Word refers to a list of tables or figures as a table of figures.

This tutorial is also available as a YouTube video showing all the steps in real time.

Watch more than 200 other writing-related software tutorials on my YouTube channel.

The images below are from Word in Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365). The steps are the same in Word 2021, Word 2019, Word 2016, and Word 2013. However, your interface may look different in those older versions of the software.

Remember that these steps will only work if you used Word’s caption tool to number your tables or figures before creating the list.

  1. Insert your cursor where you want to place your list.
  2. Select the References tab in the ribbon.

References tab in Word 365

Figure 1. References tab
  1. Select Insert Table of Figures from the Captions group.

Insert Table of Figures button in Word 365

Figure 2. Insert Table of Figures button
  1. Select a visual style from the Formats menu in the Table of Figures dialog box. (The From Template option is based on the styles established in your current template.)

Formats menu in the Table of Figures dialog box in Word 365

Figure 3. Formats menu
  1. Select Figure or Table from the Caption label menu. (There is no option for listing figures and tables together.)

Caption label menu in the Table of Figures dialog box in Word 365

Figure 4. Caption label menu
  1. Ensure that Include label and number is checked if you want the label (i.e., Figure or Table) and the number to be included in the list. (Recommended)

Include label and number option in the Table of Figures dialog box in Word 365

Figure 5. Include label and number option
  1. (Optional Step) Select additional options concerning page numbers and the tab leaders, which are the dots, dashes, or lines that appear before the page numbers.

Page number and Tab Leader options in the Table of Figures dialog box in Word 365

Figure 6. Page number and tab leader options

Pro Tip: The Web Preview section shows how your list will look if you convert your Word file to a web page.

  1. Select the OK button.

OK button in the Table of Figures dialog box in Word 365

Figure 7. Table of Figures OK button
  1. Manually type a title above your list.

List of figures with title

Figure 8. List of figures with title
  1. Save your file to save your changes.

The next section shows how to update a list of tables or figures.

How to Update a List of Tables or Figures

Word will not automatically update your list as you add or delete tables or figures. Instead, you can manually trigger updates, as necessary.

  1. Right-click the list and select Update Field from the shortcut menu.

Update Field option in Word 365

Figure 9. Update Field option
  1. Select Update entire table from the Update Table of Figures dialog box.

Update entire table option in the Update Table of Figures dialog box in Word 365

Figure 10. Update entire table option
  1. Select the OK button.

OK button in the Update Table of Figures dialog box on Word 365

Figure 11. Update Table of Figures OK button

Your updates should appear immediately.

  1. Save your file to save your changes.

Important Note: Word’s caption tool, which inserts table titles and figure captions, will automatically number new tables and figures as you add titles and captions (e.g., Table 1, Table 2, Table 3). However, Word will not automatically update the numbering if you move or delete tables or figures.

See “How to Update Table and Figure Numbers in Microsoft Word” to learn how to force an update after moving or deleting a table or figure.

Related Resources

How to Create and Customize Charts in Microsoft Word

How to Insert and Modify Images in Microsoft Word

Three Ways to Insert Tables in Microsoft Word

How to Change the Style of Table Titles and Figure Captions in Microsoft Word

How to Cross-Reference Tables and Figures in Microsoft Word

How to Reference Tables and Figures in Text

Updated December 14, 2022

Image: iStockphoto.com/jatrax
John A Trax Jr, Getty Images/iStockphoto

If you have a lot of tables, chances are you’ll want to document them. You can do so with minimal effort thanks to Word’s referencing feature. By giving your tables captions, you can easily generate a list of tables (and figures). The captions serve as descriptive titles, and you can use them to generate a list anywhere in the document, as easily as you would a table of contents.

There’s a monkey wrench though: The default settings rely on built-in captions for each table, and each caption displays a sequential number. That’s great if that’s what you want–but if it’s not, you’ll have to work a bit harder. In this article, I’ll show you how to generate both lists: one displaying the same caption and sequential numbers and one containing unique names and no sequential numbers. You can also apply both techniques to a list of figures.

I’m using Word 2016 on a Windows 10 64-bit system, but this technique works in older versions. The browser version will display the list, but the features needed to generate the list aren’t available. You can work with your own Word document or download the demonstration .docx or .doc file.

LEARN MORE: Office 365 Consumer pricing and features

The easy way

The easiest technique generates a list of built-in captions and sequential numbers. With a little work, you can add custom captions and remove the numbers. The only thing you must do either way is give each table a title using the Caption property. Let’s work through a simple document with a few tables. To add a caption, click anywhere inside the first table and then do the following:

  1. Click the References tab.
  2. In the Captions group, click Insert Caption.
  3. To retain the default settings (Figure A) click OK. As you can see in Figure B, Word adds the default caption–Table 1–above the table.

Figure A

Retain the default settings.

Figure B

Word displays a caption above the table.

Repeat this process for the remaining tables. When you’re done, you’re ready to add the list of tables to your document. You can put the list anywhere you like. In a technical document, a list of tables usually follows the table of contents. For this example, we’ll generate the list at the end of the document, as follows:

  1. Double-click at the end of the document.
  2. Click the References tab.
  3. In the Captions group, click Insert Table Of Figures.
  4. In the resulting dialog, choose Table from the Caption Label dropdown (Figure C).
  5. Uncheck the Use Hyperlinks Instead Of Page Numbers option.
  6. Click OK to return the document and the list shown in Figure D.

Figure C

You want to list tables.

Figure D

With almost no work, you can generate a list of tables.

Using the default settings, this feature quickly creates a list of tables, but the captions are limited. They aren’t descriptive and they include a sequential number. You might want something more meaningful.

SEE: 30 things you should never do in Microsoft Office (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

http://www.techrepublic.com/videos/video-how-to-rotate-text-in-microsoft-word/

Add meaning

Fortunately, adding custom captions and removing the sequential numbers requires only a few additional steps. First, if you’re actually working the example, remove the captions you added in the last section. Simply select and delete them or close and reopen the document without saving it. Next, click anywhere inside the first table, click the References tab, and then click Insert Caption, as before. To add the custom caption, do the following:

  1. Click New Label.
  2. In the resulting dialog, enter the text (Figure E).
  3. Click OK.
  4. Make sure the Position setting is correct–most likely you’ll want to use Above Selected Item. When you choose New Label, Word switches the position.
  5. Click OK to return to the document.

Figure E

Add a custom caption.

As you can see in Figure F, the caption displays the custom text and a sequential number. To remove the number, select it and delete it–it’s that simple. Figure G shows all three tables with custom captions and no sequential numbers. If you add all three captions and then go back to remove the values, you’ll notice that each caption is numbered 1. That’s because each caption is unique. As a result, the values aren’t functional.

Figure F

The caption is more meaningful, but it still includes the sequential number.

Figure G

Remove the sequential numbers from each caption.

Try to generate a list of tables as you did before. Notice that the Caption labels option now offers your custom labels. Because your captions are unique, choosing one of them will list only that table. Be sure to choose Table as you did before. Oops… you probably weren’t expecting to see the error shown in Figure H, were you? Adding custom captions is only half of the solution.

Figure H

This error means Word can’t find any table captions to list.

Luckily, the fix involves only a few extra clicks. Once again, use the Insert Table Of Figures option to display the Table Of Figures dialog (Figure C). Choose Table and uncheck the Use Hyperlinks Instead Of Page Numbers option as before. Instead of clicking OK, click Options. In the resulting dialog, check the Style option, as shown in Figure I, and click OK twice (and confirm to replace the existing list if prompted) . Figure J shows the results.

SEE: Microsoft Office: Full version comes to the Windows Store (TechRepublic)

Figure I

Use a table style instead of the caption labels to generate the list .

Figure J

The list displays meaningful names and no values.

Choosing this option changes the list element from labels to styles–specifically, Word’s built-in Caption style. You can use both techniques to generate a list of figures.

Send me your question about Office

I answer readers’ questions when I can, but there’s no guarantee. Don’t send files unless requested; initial requests for help that arrive with attached files will be deleted unread. You can send screenshots of your data to help clarify your question. When contacting me, be as specific as possible. For example, “Please troubleshoot my workbook and fix what’s wrong” probably won’t get a response, but “Can you tell me why this formula isn’t returning the expected results?” might. Please mention the app and version that you’re using. I’m not reimbursed by TechRepublic for my time or expertise when helping readers, nor do I ask for a fee from readers I help. You can contact me at susansalesharkins@gmail.com.

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