Generate Table of Contents

This tool requires bookmarks to generate a table of contents. If your PDF doesn't have bookmarks:

1. Use our Edit Bookmarks tool to add bookmarks first
2. Create bookmarks for each chapter or section you want in your TOC
3. Save the PDF with bookmarks, then use this tool to generate the TOC
4. Bookmark names become TOC entries, hierarchy creates indentation

The table of contents is always inserted as the first page of your PDF:

• Original page 1 becomes page 2
• All page numbers in the TOC are automatically adjusted
• Bookmark destinations are updated to point to correct pages
• If you need the TOC elsewhere, use Organize PDF to move pages

The generated TOC becomes a regular PDF page. You can:

• Edit text using our PDF Editor
• Regenerate the TOC if you change bookmarks
• Manually edit entries if only minor changes are needed
• For major changes, regenerate with updated bookmarks

Note: Manual edits won't update page numbers automatically if document changes.

Nested bookmarks (parent-child relationships) are preserved in the table of contents:

• Top-level bookmarks appear flush left
• Child bookmarks are indented (usually 0.5 inches)
• Multiple levels of nesting are supported
• This creates a hierarchical, organized TOC structure

Example structure in TOC:

Chapter 1: Introduction ............. 1
  1.1 Background ..................... 2
  1.2 Objectives ..................... 3
Chapter 2: Methodology ............... 5
  2.1 Research Design ................ 6
  2.2 Data Collection ................ 8

This tool requires bookmarks, which are metadata separate from page content:

• Scanned PDFs: Work if bookmarks were added separately
• Image-based PDFs: Work if bookmarks exist
• Searchable PDFs: Work best with automatic bookmark generation

If you have a scanned PDF without bookmarks:

1. Use OCR PDF tool to make it searchable
2. Add bookmarks manually or with automatic tools
3. Then generate your table of contents