How Do I Add a Table of Contents to a PDF?

What's the difference between a bookmark and a table of contents in a PDF?

A bookmark is a link in the reader's side panel that jumps straight to a page. A table of contents is a page inside the PDF itself, listing the same sections with page numbers.

• Bookmarks: stored in the file's outline tree (the Document Outline, in the PDF standard's own words), not on any page, so they never print.
• Contents page: an ordinary page you can see, print and scroll past, usually placed at the front of the file.
• Most documents want both: PDF Bookmarks and TOC can build the bookmark list and lay out a contents page from it in one step.
• Nesting: both can show chapters with sections inside them, each level one step deeper than the one above it.

How do I add bookmarks to a PDF I already have?

PDF Bookmarks and TOC reads your file and lists the lines that look like headings, based on their size and weight. Turn that list into bookmarks without typing each one in by hand.

• Upload the PDF and the tool lists every heading it found, each with its page number.
• Start from the headings it found, from bookmarks already in the file, or from an empty list.
• Numbered headings like 2 or 2.1 set their own level. Others get a level from their size, so the biggest become chapters.
• Scanned pages have no text to read, so run OCR PDF on them first.
• Rename, reorder or nest any bookmark, then save to download the new file.

How do I turn Word or Google Docs headings into PDF bookmarks?

Word and Google Docs turn their own heading styles into PDF bookmarks the moment you export. Building the contents list in the source file is usually faster than fixing the PDF afterward.

• Word: apply the built in Heading 1, Heading 2 styles, then go to File, Save As, choose PDF, open Options, and tick "Create bookmarks using: Headings".
• Headings only convert if they use a real heading style. Text that's just made bold and bigger by hand won't carry over.
• Google Docs: Insert, then Table of contents, pick the linked style, update it, and download as PDF. The links stay clickable in the file.
• If the export still misses a heading, add it afterward with PDF Bookmarks and TOC instead of redoing the whole document.

Why isn't the bookmarks panel showing when I open a PDF?

The bookmarks panel only opens on its own if that file's Initial View is set to show it. Otherwise the reader falls back to its own last used setting.

• In Acrobat: press Ctrl+D for Document Properties, open the Initial View tab, set Navigation Tab to "Bookmarks Panel and Page", then save the file.
• The setting is saved inside that one PDF. It won't change how any other file opens.
• A file you can't save, because it's locked or protected, won't keep the setting.
• If the panel opens but stays empty, the file has no outline yet. Add one with PDF Bookmarks and TOC.

Do bookmarks survive merging, splitting or printing a PDF?

Printing drops them every time, because bookmarks sit outside the page content and nothing on paper can hold a link. Merging and splitting keep them only if the tool carries the outline across.

• Printing to paper, or printing to a new PDF through a print driver, loses the bookmarks, since they aren't part of any page.
• Merging: Merge PDF keeps each file's bookmarks and nests them under that file's name in the combined outline.
• Splitting: Split PDF keeps the bookmarks that still point inside the new file and drops the ones that don't.
• If bookmarks go missing after either job, rebuild them in one pass with PDF Bookmarks and TOC.

Try the tools

Try it on your own file. The tools are free and you don't need an account.