Writing & StyleStyle guide

List of Tables

A list of tables is a navigation aid for captioned tables. Generate it from the same stable table labels used in the document rather than maintaining a second manual numbering list.

Quick answer

Build a list of tables from consistently labelled table captions, and update it whenever tables, numbering or pagination changes.

Key details

Core Issuea navigational list generated from identified table captions
Registerreports, theses, manuals and other long structured documents

Important caveats

Automation

Where supported, generate and refresh the list from caption fields to reduce stale page numbers or identifiers after editing.

Style Boundary

Whether a document requires a separate list of tables, and where it appears, is a template or house-style decision.

Further guidance

Source Of Entries

Use the document’s table captions as the source for list entries so the identifiers match what readers see at each table.

Sources and evidence

Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.

  1. Add, format, or delete captions in Word — Microsoft Support (opens in a new tab)Microsoft Support · Numbered caption labels for figures, tables and equations and sequence updating

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