Table of Contents Generator

Paste your Markdown or HTML and instantly get a clean, nested table of contents with anchor links — copy it as HTML, Markdown, or plain text. Free, private, and runs entirely in your browser.

Why a table of contents helps SEO and AI search

A table of contents does more than help readers navigate. It can earn jump-to links in Google results, keeps people on the page longer, and — increasingly important — gives AI answer engines a clean map of your content so they can extract and cite the right section. It pairs naturally with strong heading structure, which you can check with our free SEO content analysis tool.

For the strategy, see our guides on topic clusters and pillar pages, internal linking, and winning featured snippets — or let our content marketing and AEO teams handle it.

Frequently asked questions

How do I create a table of contents?
Paste your content (Markdown headings like ## Heading, or HTML <h2> tags) into this free tool. It detects your headings, generates anchor slugs, and outputs a nested table of contents you can copy as HTML, Markdown, or plain text.
Does a table of contents help SEO?
Yes. A table of contents improves user experience and scannability, can earn jump-to links (sitelinks) in Google, and gives AI answer engines a clear map of your content structure, all of which support rankings and citations.
Which heading levels should the table include?
H2 and H3 for most pages. Going deeper produces a table longer than the section it describes, which readers skip.
Do I need JavaScript for the table of contents?
No. The HTML output is a plain nested list of anchor links, so it works with JavaScript disabled and stays visible to crawlers that do not execute scripts.
How are the anchor IDs generated?
From the heading text, lowercased with punctuation stripped and spaces turned into hyphens. Add the same IDs to your headings so each link lands in the right place.
Which output format should I use?
HTML for a web page, Markdown for a README or a docs site that renders Markdown, and plain text for an outline you are pasting into a brief or an email.