I had a working table of content but after saving file when next opened the table had grabbed random lumps of text (from the right chapter), filling several pages of my document.


Removing the table does not work. When making a new one the old one keeps coming back. Deleting the surplus text does not work either.
Advice please,


Deebles

Usually, tables of contents are built using styles. If you select the entire TOC and then right click and choose to Toggle the Field Code, you can see how your TOC is configured. This will give you a hint as to what styles are being used in the TOC. You can then go through your document and make sure that the paragraphs that SHOULDN'T appear in the TOC are not using that style.

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Andrew Lockton
Chrysalis Design, Melbourne Australia

The table of contents is picking up exactly what you have told it to!

Chances are good that it is based on heading styles.
Go to the text that is showing up in your TOC and Ctrl+Click on the text that should not be there to go to it in the document. See what style is applied. It should not be one that you have set to show up in your TOC. It may look like body text but likely has a heading style applied. Try pressing Ctrl+Shift+N. Then update your TOC (entire table).

First thing to try is to delete the \u switch (which includes paragraphs with direct "Outline level" formatting) from the TOC field code.

To show/hide field codes, press Alt+F9 (or Alt+Fn+F9 on some keyboards).

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Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional