Dot Leader Sporadically Missing from Table of Contents

Anonymous
2012-04-18T23:56:07+00:00

I am updating an automatic table of contents.  I'm using Word 2010.  There are dot leaders for each toc entry.  However, for several (but not all) of the new toc entries, the entry appears with the page number, but with no dot leader.  I've deleted the item and re-entered, re-formatted and done everything else I can think of and nothing works.  Help??

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Suzanne S Barnhill 279.4K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2012-05-22T18:43:08+00:00

Considering just the entries that are missing the period leaders, are those entries much shorter or longer than the other entries? Often this problem is a result of placement of tab stops in the relevant TOC style; in that case, however, the problem also results in page numbers being in the wrong place as well as lacking leaders. The situation arises when there is a tab stop (or hanging indent) fairly far to the right in the TOC style. A very short entry will stop short of this tab stop, and so the tab that should go to the right-aligned tab stop at the right margin (for the page numbers, with leader) instead stops at the first tab stop/hanging indent.

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-05-20T00:33:28+00:00

    Using Word 2013 I will sometimes encounter this issue, and the fastest way I have discovered to deal with it is the following:

     - Modify the TOC styles

     - Select the 'tab' option under Format options

     - Delete all tab stops

     - Close

    If you repeat this for all TOC styles in use, you will get a Table with no dot leader AND your formatting will be a mess. But once you select 'update table', viola -- your updated table will have the correct formatting, including the dot leader.

    Not a permanent fix (obviously), and no idea why it works, but it's very fast and has worked for me 100% of the time.

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  2. Stefan Blom 352.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2016-05-20T08:27:39+00:00

    The key is that you should only have the tab stops that you need in your TOC styles. See the reply marked as Answer, posted by Suzanne S. Barnhill in 2012.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-07-16T12:54:07+00:00

    Thanks a lot! It really did the job... I've replaced those short headings with just a few characters with longer ones, and page numbers are now were they should be. As long as one is allowed to change the content of headings, this is the simplest work-around I've come across.

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  4. Suzanne S Barnhill 279.4K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2016-07-16T13:51:56+00:00

    If you can't modify the content, you can modify the TOC styles to move the tab stops or hanging indent.

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