Deleting a Table of Contents

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated December 26, 2013)

3

Google Docs includes a great feature that allows you to easily add a table of contents to a document. At some point, though, you may want to get rid of the TOC completely. You would think it would be as easy as deleting all the headings that appear in the TOC, but not so!

If you put the insertion point somewhere within the TOC, you'll notice that Docs shows a box around the entire TOC. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. A TOC has a box that appears around it.

If you delete all the headings in the TOC, then the box still remains—it is an element that must be deleted in its own right. Here are the steps I follow to get rid of a TOC; they should work for you, as well.

  1. Position the insertion point before the existing TOC. When you do so, the TOC box should not appear anywhere on the screen.
  2. Hold down the Shift key as you use the down-arrow to select everything within the TOC.
  3. Make sure you still hold down the Shift key as you select at least one character beyond the end of the TOC. (You should now have the full TOC box and a character before and a character after the box selected.)
  4. Press the Delete key. The TOC is now completely gone.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Returning the Smallest Non-Zero Value

In a series of values, you may need to know the smallest value that isn't a zero. There is no built-in function to do ...

Discover More

Changing the Theme of a Presentation

Themes allow you to apply a consistent look to all the slides in your presentation. Fortunately, Presentation allows you ...

Discover More

Inserting the User's Name in a Cell

Need to understand who is using a particular workbook? There are a number of ways you can find out, as discussed in this tip.

Discover More
More DriveTips

Easily Adding a Graphic to a Document

Need to spice up your document with a graphic? Here's the quickest way we've found to get those graphics where you want them.

Discover More

Converting a Word Document to Docs Format

Many documents start out in Microsoft Word, but you may need to move them to Docs so you can share and collaborate with ...

Discover More

Quickly Copying Formatting

Need to quickly copy formatting from one area to another in your document? Docs makes it easy through the Paint Format tool.

Discover More
Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 7 + 4?

2016-10-11 15:11:55

kaya

You can also right click on the table of contents. At the bottom of the potions list, there will be a prompt saying, "Delete Table of Contents".

2016-04-10 17:01:54

Aimee

What a simple solution, but VERY helpful!

2014-03-10 01:07:59

J

Thanks so much!

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR AUTHORS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2021 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.