Word: styles, headings, table of contents and templates
For office, HR, finance and operations staff who write or maintain reports, policies, handbooks and letters in Microsoft Word. Prerequisite: 'Business documents: templates, styles, accessibility and proofreading' (why styles and templates matter). This course goes further, hands-on: applying heading styles in order and checking them in the Navigation pane, modifying and creating styles so one change updates the whole document, inserting and updating an automatic table of contents, saving and editing a Word template with content controls, and correcting a document that was formatted by hand. Steps are for Word for Microsoft 365 and Word 2016 or later on Windows unless noted; Word for Mac and Word for the web differ in places. Your organisation's templates and house style apply on top.
- Level
- Beginner
- Length
- About 85 minutes
- Contents
- 5 lessons · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 10 Oct 2026
Skills you'll practise
- Apply built-in heading styles in a logical order and check the document structure in the Navigation pane
- Modify a style, or create a new one, so that one change updates every paragraph that uses it
- Insert an automatic table of contents, fix missing entries and choose the right update option
- Save a document as a Word template, edit it, and start new documents from it
- Correct a manually formatted document by clearing direct formatting and applying styles
Course outline
- 1.Applying heading styles in order and checking structure in the Navigation paneLesson · 16 min
- 2.Modifying or creating a style so one change updates every paragraphLesson · 16 min
- 3.Inserting an automatic table of contents, fixing missing entries and updating itLesson · 15 min
- 4.Saving a document as a Word template, editing it and starting new documents from itLesson · 16 min
- 5.Correcting a manually formatted document by clearing formatting and applying stylesLesson · 14 min
- 6.Word: styles, headings, table of contents and templates: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 13 questions
- 7.Word: styles, headings, table of contents and templates: practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
- 8.Final exam10 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
- Microsoft Support: Add a heading (Word)
- Microsoft Support: Use the Navigation pane in Word
- Microsoft Support: Number your headings (Word)
- Microsoft Support: Customize or create new styles (Word)
- Microsoft Support: Insert a table of contents (Word)
- Microsoft Support: Update a table of contents (Word)
- Microsoft Support: Create a template (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
- Microsoft Support: Edit templates (Word: building blocks, content controls, protection)
- Microsoft Support: Differences between templates, themes, and Word styles
- Microsoft Support: Clear all text formatting
See it with your own jobs and topics
Tell us about your team and we'll walk you through setup, from choosing jobs to your first skills check.