Create and update table of contents — AI Prompts for Microsoft Word

The four heights

The same task, four distances: today's deadline, the next reviewer, the stuck moment, the pattern.

Execute — do the immediate task

Update the table of contents so it matches the current headings and page numbers. Use the built-in…

Update the table of contents so it matches the current headings and page numbers. Use the built-in heading styles in the document to populate the TOC, include levels 1 through 3, and place it after the title page. If there is an existing TOC, replace it rather than inserting a second one. Ensure page numbers are right-aligned and dotted leaders connect entries to numbers.

Improve — make it easier to accept

Before I send this to the review panel, make the table of contents easy to scan. Surface the…

Before I send this to the review panel, make the table of contents easy to scan. Surface the chapter titles and their page numbers at the top, collapse long subsection lists so only the top two levels show, and bold the three main section headings. Highlight any headings that use manual formatting instead of the heading styles and recommend the minimum edits to fix them.

Decide — diagnose the stuck moment

I updated sections and moved text, then the table of contents still shows old page numbers and…

The TOC lists wrong page numbers and misses some headings.

I updated sections and moved text, then the table of contents still shows old page numbers and omits two subsections. The project manager will notice on Monday. I used locally formatted bold text for some headings and am not sure which ones. What probably caused the TOC mismatch, how do I make it rebuild correctly without losing manual tweaks in the document, and which headings should I inspect first?

Become — change the pattern

Over the last few reports we repeatedly hand-edit the table of contents and then scramble to fix it…

Every draft requires a frantic TOC rebuild at the end.

Over the last few reports we repeatedly hand-edit the table of contents and then scramble to fix it before delivery. What change in our authoring habit will save time and restore trust in the TOC, and what two concrete rules should writers follow so the TOC always regenerates correctly?

Next to this one

Other word processor work people do in Microsoft Word.

Create and format cover page Create and format headers for sections Create and manage forms Create and review banquet event orders (BEOs)Create and update indexes Create bulleted lists Create custom styles Create educational materials about healthy food choices Create new artificial substances and useful processes Create numbered lists

Every task here came from the work, not from a feature list — which is why the prompts name what you want done and never the button that does it. The tool changes; the work does not.

The rest of the map

Same library, five ways in.

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