To create a table of contents in Pages on a Mac, first apply paragraph styles to the headings you want listed, then choose which styles to include and insert the TOC into a word-processing document. Pages builds the entries from those styles and updates the TOC as you edit. The key is to use paragraph styles consistently: bold or larger text alone does not define a heading for the TOC. Apple’s Pages guide

1. Apply paragraph styles to your headings

Work through the document and mark each heading with a paragraph style. Click in a heading paragraph, or select multiple heading paragraphs that should share a style. In the Format sidebar, click the Text tab, open the Paragraph Styles menu near the top, and choose an appropriate style, such as Heading or Subheading. Repeat at each level you want represented in the TOC. Apple describes the TOC as being generated from paragraph styles applied to paragraphs. Apple’s guide to applying paragraph styles

If the document already has visually formatted headings, check their paragraph style rather than assuming their appearance is enough. A manual font-size or bold change can be an override on a paragraph style; the style name remains available in the Paragraph Styles menu. For documents with many headings, consistently applying a style level by level makes it easier to include the right sections and exclude things like acknowledgments or a cover title. Pages also lets you use custom paragraph styles, which can be useful if the built-in styles do not match your document’s structure. Apple on paragraph styles

A limitation to know: Apple says paragraph styles cannot be applied to text in a table cell. If a heading is inside a table, do not expect it to become a standard TOC entry through the paragraph-style workflow described here. Apple’s paragraph-style instructions

2. Choose TOC styles and insert the table

Click the View button in the Pages toolbar, then choose Table of Contents. In the left sidebar, click Edit and select the checkboxes for the paragraph styles you want included. For example, select the style used for main chapter headings and a second style for subsections if you want both levels. Use the indent or outdent controls beside a selected style to show hierarchy. The sidebar TOC is useful for navigating while you work, but it is not itself a table placed on a page. Apple’s Pages TOC instructions

To place a TOC in the document, put the insertion point where it should appear. With the Table of Contents sidebar open, click the Insert Table of Contents button at the bottom to create one for the whole document. You can also use Insert > Table of Contents > Section for the current section, or To Next Occurrence for the content between this TOC and the next one. These Insert menu options are for word-processing documents. If the whole-document insert button is dimmed, confirm that the insertion point is set; if it remains dimmed, Apple says the document may be a page layout document, which does not support inserting a TOC this way. Apple’s Pages TOC instructions

3. Format and check the result

Select the inserted TOC to format its text. The Format sidebar provides controls for font appearance and, under Text > Tabs, leader lines and the spacing between an entry and its page number. If you want the inserted TOC to use a different set of styles than the sidebar TOC, select it, open the Table of Contents tab in the Format sidebar, and choose Customize Styles. Apple notes that this customization choice cannot be undone; matching tables of contents afterward requires manual adjustment. Apple’s Pages TOC instructions

Review the entries against your intended outline. A missing heading usually points to a paragraph that needs the correct style or a style that is not enabled in the TOC’s Edit settings. An unwanted entry may have a heading style applied or its style may be enabled when it should not be. After changing headings or the TOC style selections, Pages updates the TOC automatically. For a document intended for distribution, also check the exported PDF or EPUB in a reader app that supports TOC navigation; Apple says those formats can include the TOC for supported reader apps. Apple’s Pages TOC instructions

Use Pages’ sidebar when you only need navigation

If you only need to jump between headings while editing, opening View > Table of Contents may be enough; you do not need to insert a printed TOC page. The sidebar entries act as links within the document, and you can close the sidebar from the View menu by choosing Document Only. This distinction avoids adding a page to a document when your goal is simply to navigate it. Apple’s quick navigation guide

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