MS Word Create TOC where "Table of Contents" heading is not numbered

I have a Word document using the default theme and heading styles, with multi-level numbering on the headings. If I create a TOC, word INSISTS on numbering the TOC title "Table of Contents" with number 1, and renumbering all subsequent headings.

I had

Title Page
1 Introduction
1.1 Some subheading
... etc

After creating the TOC I had

Title Page
1 Table of Contents
...
2 Introduction
2.1 Some subheading
... etc

I don't want the "Table of Contents" numbered, and I want the headings numbered as they originally appeared (1. Introduction, etc).

I tried restarting numbering in the "Introduction", which restarted at 1, but the TOC still referred to it as 2 even after rebuilding it. Inserting a section break after the TOC caused even more problems (missing text in the TOC, references to page 0) so I gave up.

What's the correct way to do this?

Solution 1:

Modify the style of "Table of Contents" heading in the document.

By default, this heading is based on Heading 1 in many templates. If your Heading 1 style has numbering attached (which is a good practice), the derivative style will also have the numbering.

Select the paragraph "Table of Contents" in the document and modify the style to be based on Normal. Then modify it to have the formatting you want and if you want the Table of Contents, itself, to appear in the Table of Contents, give it an Outline level of 1. (I recommend against having it in the Table of Contents; it is redundant.)