How to generate a table of contents in Markdown
Build a clickable table of contents from your headings automatically — with anchor links that jump to each section, and a note on keeping it in sync.
Any document longer than a screen benefits from a table of contents. The Markdown TOC Generator reads your headings and builds a nested, clickable contents list — no hand-typing anchor links.
How it works
The tool scans your document's ## and ### headings and produces a bulleted list where each item links to that section:
- [Installation](#installation)
- [Usage](#usage)
- [Options](#options)
- [License](#license)
The links use the same anchor rules that GitHub and most Markdown renderers apply — lowercase, spaces to dashes, punctuation removed — so clicking an entry jumps straight to the heading.
Why generate it
- Navigation. Readers jump to what they need instead of scrolling.
- Accuracy. Hand-written anchors break the moment you rename a heading; generating the TOC keeps the links correct.
- Speed. A 20-section document gets a perfect contents list in one click.
Keeping it in sync
A TOC is a snapshot — edit your headings and it drifts out of date. Two habits keep it honest:
- Regenerate after structural edits. When you add, remove, or rename sections, rebuild the TOC.
- Use the updater for existing docs. The TOC Updater refreshes a TOC already in your document in place, so you don't paste a duplicate.
Related structure tools
To see your document's skeleton without building links, use the Outline Generator. To add section numbers, the Heading Numberer does that.
Privacy
It all runs in your browser — the document never leaves your machine.
Generate the contents, drop it under your title, and give readers a map.